A taxi driver refused to take a blind man and his guide dog to the Labour Party conference in Brighton because he is afraid of dogs.

What he did not know was that John Dickinson-Lilley is a parliamentary officer for the Royal National Institute for the Blind Mr Dickinson-Lilley was at the conference to lobby ministers and MPs for improved rights for the blind and partially sighted.

He arrived at Brighton station on the first day of the conference at the Brighton Centre on September 27.

Station staff showed him and his black Labrador guide dog Jimmy to the taxi rank where he queued with MPs and a Secretary of State.

But Mohammad Babak refused to let them into the Brighton and Hove Streamline taxi he was driving.

Mr Dickinson-Lilley, from Norwich, said: “The driver said 'no, no dogs'.

“I explained that he was a guide dog – Jimmy was in his harness – and that he was obliged to carry me and the dog.

“The driver said he did not carry dogs, including guide dogs and that the cab was not his anyway.”

Station staff also appealed to Babak but their pleas fell on deaf ears.

Mr Dickinson-Lilley said: “I felt completely humiliated and embarrassed.

“I am a Parliamentary Officer and had been embarrassed infront of senior MPs who I might have to work with."

Babak, 25, of Carden Hill, Brighton, admitted failing to comply with his duty to carry Mr Dickinson-Lilley and Jimmy when he appeared at Brighton Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

Lucinda Dore, defending, said Babak had medical evidence to back his claims that he is allergic to dogs and is frightened of them.

She added: “That apart he wants to apologise for the distress that this caused to the victim of this offence."