A family are furious after staff refused to allow their soya and dairy intolerant toddler to eat his special packed lunch in the restaurant . Alex and Coral Pouros had spent £30 on the day out to Wingham Wildlife Park with 20 month-old Elliot . They had prepared a special meal for the youngster who is restricted on what he can eat because of an intolerance to dairy and soya , and planned to buy food for themselves from the zoo restaurant . Alex and Coral Pouros ( pictured with their son ) had spent £30 on the day out to Wingham Wildlife Park with 20 month-old Elliot . But they were furious when park owner Tony Binskin insisted they could not eat in the restaurant and offered them a nearby empty room instead . The family refused and left the zoo near Canterbury , Kent after just two hours and vowed never to return . Osteopath Alex , 32 , said : 'We explained the situation and as it was very cold outside I thought he would be understanding . ' I even said that if they had any dairy or soya-free food , we would buy that for Elliott . 'They did n't , but he still insisted he could not eat his lunch in the restaurant . The couple had prepared a special meal for the youngster who is restricted on what he can eat because of an intolerance to lactose and soya . The couple had planned to buy their own lunch at Wingham Wildlife Park 's restaurant ( pictured ) 'To be honest , we were pretty upset because it seemed totally unreasonable . It 's not as if the place was packed because there were plenty of places to sit . ' I was n't prepared for Elliott to have to eat his lunch outside in the cold and told the owner that we had two choices - either we were allowed to sit indoors or we would have to leave . 'But he would n't budge so we left after spending £30 to get in and having a visit that lasted just a couple of hours . ' Alex , of Broadstairs , Kent , added : 'It was actually Coral 's 32nd birthday and we thought it would be a nice day out , but sadly it was n't . 'We had been to the park before with a young niece and enjoyed the experience but this time we just felt angry and hurt and certainly wo n't be going back . ' Markus Wilder , curator of the animal collection , disputed the family 's claim there was no options for their son at the cafe . 'We have a menu of 55 items and there are only ten of them that contain soya or dairy , ' he said . 'Any of our cooked meals he would have been fine to eat ; we have jacket potatoes , burgers ... ' But the family were furious when park owner Tony Binskin insisted they could not eat in the restaurant and offered them a nearby empty room instead . The family left the zoo near Canterbury , Kent after just two hours and have since vowed never to return . Mr Wilder said the family had been asked to leave the restaurant due to the park 's strict policy but claimed they had been offered their own private room instead . 'We 're only a fairly small park , and we have fairly limited seating so we have a policy that you can not eat outside food from outside in the restaurant . It applies across the board . 'The trouble is if we let one person have a packed lunch , then others see it and start to ask why they have been refused . 'It just gets very awkward for us because many people and children have special dietary requirements these days . 'In this case , I spoke to the family and did offer them an empty room nearby where they could still eat indoors , but the mother , in particular , still was n't happy . 'We also have covered areas outside for people who bring their own food . 'We are looking at expanding the food range to accommodate more needs but our animals must come first and we ca n't direct funding away from them . '
farmer and Coral Pouros paid £ 30 to take son Elliot to zoo Wildlife Park . Packed dairy and soya free lunch for him and planned to buy theirs at cafe . he refused to allow the toddler to sit in restaurant and eat his own food . The furious farmer fled the zoo after just 24 hours vowing never to return .