Richard Madeley’s ‘blood boils’ as he slams health and safety madness that forced disabled man to drag himself up stairs

FURIOUS Richard Madeley said his "blood was boiling" after a wheelchair-bound man was forced to drag himself up train station stairs.

Chris Nicholson was refused help by staff who claimed health and safety rules stopped them from intervening.

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The ex-rugby player was stuck on a platform with an out-of-service lift and no disabled toilets after becoming stranded at Milton Keynes Central.

He admits breaking down in tears as he dragged his wheelchair with one arm as he crawled up the stairs, having to pick his legs up every step.

The chaos started when Chris's Avanti train was cancelled and he needed to change platforms to catch another one on the hottest day of the year.

After interviewing Chris on Good Morning Britain, host Richard was visibly outraged by the story.

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"What I simply cannot understand is why the staff that you approached as the minutes ticked by, refused to help you to the other platform," fumed Richard.

"The reason that they gave - and I just hate these three words - health and safety.

"What did they mean? In what possible way was their health and safety or yours?"

Richard went on to read a statement from Avanti about the "extremely unusual combination of circumstances" that led to Chris's experience.

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"Accessibility is extremely important to us", the statement continued, with Richard ranting: "Well it wasn't then, was it? This is just verbiage."

An Avanti West Coast spokesman said: “We have been made aware of this incident and are sorry to hear about the customer’s experience.

“We have since been in contact with the customer – who has arrived at their destination safely on Friday night.

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“We are also liaising with London Northwestern Railway – the train operating company responsible for managing Milton Keynes station – as they investigate the circumstances of what happened.”

London Northwestern Railway did not comment.

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