A Milford Haven café proprietor is urging people to show greater empathy towards others after the family of a young autistic child were forced to leave his premises as a result of the other customers’ behaviour.

The incident occurred on Monday afternoon when the young child and his brother entered the ‘Taste of Haven’ café in Charles Street, Milford Haven, with their parents and grandparents.

“The family had sat at a table and were sorting out their orders and the little boy, who was around two years old and autistic, was making noises,” said café owner Mark Woodward, who runs the business with his business partner, Eva Upeniece.

“A couple of elderly customers began tutting and complaining about the little lad and a few words were exchanged but it all culminated when a male customer said that children should be seen and not heard.

“The family were clearly very upset and distressed by this remark and they left the café immediately.”

Mark Woodward followed the family outside and apologised for the incident. He also spoke to the people who had made the comments.

MORE NEWS

“When we set this café up three and a half years ago, our aim was to establish a community café where anybody and everybody is made to feel welcome,” he continued.

“We’re very honoured that we get a lot of single ladies who come in because they feel safe and secure at ‘A Taste of Haven’.

"People sit here and chat, they make friends and they meet friends. So when we witness behaviour like what we saw on Monday, it’s very upsetting.

“In this day and age we need to be tolerant and understanding as we are all so much more aware of issues like autism than we were 60 years ago.

“We’ve all got to learn to start accepting each other.”

As a result of the incident, Mark and Eva are in the process of setting up sessions for autistic people at A Taste of Haven.

Further details will be announced once the launch is confirmed.