Sunday, December 13, 2009

Library ban for 'pungent body odor' man

Library officials in Leicestershire have banned a regular reader from their building following complaints about his "pungent" body odour.

The council said they were forced to act as visitors left Wigston Library when Stuart Penman, 27, arrived.

Staff said they have advised him about his personal hygiene, but it had not improved after a year.

Mr Penman has now been banned from the building for six months. He reportedly said he felt picked on.

Mr Penman, who came forward to highlight his complaints in the media, said: "I went in there on Monday with my wife and they told me I was barred because of my feet."

'Using deodorant'

Margaret Bellamy, head of the county council's library services, said: "He has been using the library for a while and we've been getting complaints about his personal hygiene for about a year.

"We've sat down with him to see what can be done and even asked him if he's been washing, using deodorant and regularly changing his clothes.

"We've had people leaving and saying it's because of the smell.

"I feel very sorry about the whole situation and it's not a decision we took lightly but we've done all we can to help and it's still not getting any better.

"When people were refusing to come into the library we felt we had no other option."

from: BBC

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