A CONCERTGOER has hit out at a popular venue near York.

Justin Carr, 52, has complained that he cannot take a chair with him to tomorrow’s (June 17) outdoor Duran Duran concert at Castle Howard, near Malton.

Mr Carr said he struggles to stand for long periods of time as he has problems with his knees, so would need a seat.

He said he regularly takes a fold up chair with him to outdoor concerts, including at Castle Howard, with no issues.

However, concert organiser Senbla have not allowed large items to be taken into tomorrow's event.

Mr Carr lives in Doncaster and had planned to travel to the stately home to see Duran Duran.

However, he has now said that he will not be attending the event as he will be unable to stay standing for a long period of time.

Mr Carr now feels he has wasted money on the tickets, priced at £62.45 each.

“It’s outrageous”, he said.

After contacting Castle Howard, Mr Carr said they recommended him to get in touch with their accessibility manager to make accessibility arrangements for him.

Mr Carr, however, said he did not want to do this as he feared that he would appear to be singled out at the concert for being able to sit down, whilst everyone else had to stand.

Instead, he said Castle Howard should make it clear when advertising future events whether seating will be allowed, to avoid confusion.

Tomorrow’s concert has been organised by event organiser Senbla.

Although the concert is being held at Castle Howard, the stately home said they were not involved with organising the event itself.

A spokesperson for Senbla said: “Due to the size and nature of the outdoor shows at Castle Howard, we are unable to allow audiences to bring in their own chairs for health and safety reasons.

“We have a full accessibility policy, have a process in order to arrange and resolve any accessibility issues, which in this instance the customer did not want to proceed with.”

Senbla have also enforced a £10.20 parking charge for the event.

A spokesperson for Castle Howard said this parking charge was not something that would be included at all future events at the stately home, as it had been introduced by Senbla for the event.

They said Senbla had introduced the fee as they are using a different car park to the standard, free car park at Castle Howard.

This new car park means that gig-goers have a shorter walk to the stage area.

The spokesperson for Castle Howard could not confirm if the parking charge would be in place at all future events organized by Senbla at the stately home.