Authorities are today warning people to watch how they behave in libraries after it emerged an 85-year-old man has been banned from all Norfolk libraries after a row over seating at Norwich's main branch escalated.
Police were reportedly summoned to deal with the row which broke out after the man, who wants to remain anonymous, complained that there was not enough seating at the Millennium Plain-based library.
The man, who is from the Norwich area, is one of nine people across Norfolk to currently serving a ban according to library bosses who have issued a plea for people to behave.
Jennifer Holland, assistant director of community services, said: 'The Library Service welcomes just under 4.5 million visitors per year and we have a duty of care to everyone who uses our libraries, as well as to our staff.
'We have clear guidelines about managing behaviour to ensure that all our libraries are safe and welcoming for everyone, including the very many young children that visit.
'On occasions people do breach these guidelines and we have to challenge their behaviour, for the sake of other library users.
'Our policy is to give people three warnings, unless their behaviour is very extreme. If they fail to adhere to these warnings then we do have to ban them, although this is always a last resort.
'We will initially only ban someone for a short period but if their behaviour continues, we can ban them for up to a year. We never want to take this action but libraries are public places and we cannot tolerate unacceptable behaviour.'
The man claims staff were abusive to him and refused to leave the building which he said led to police being called to help remove him from the area.
As a result of his behaviour which library bosses have described as 'entirely unnaceptable' the man has been banned from the city library - and all others in the county - until July 7 next year.
The man, who has already received two previous bans from the library, has also been prohibited from entering the Forum building where the library is housed.
He said: 'Every desk was occupied with people using laptops. Not one of them stood up and in the end I went to the desk to complain that there was no seats. I was told to leave the building and going down the stairs I was called a complaining old man. I didn't leave when they told me to and theen they called the police and the police then removed me.'
The incident happened in July but has only just emerged as the man, who claims he still does not know why he was banned, attempts to take his case to the Ombudsman.
A spokesman for Norfolk police said they were unaware of an incident at the library on July 3 this year but are aware of the complainant.
A spokesman for The Forum Trust said: 'We want the Forum to be open to all but we also want it to be a safe place for visitors and staff, so if someone cannot behave appropriately they will be asked to leave and if necessary banned for a period. The vast majority of the thousands of people who come here every week to visit the library, to view and take part in our shows and events or simply to meet up are considerate to others and deserve to enjoy their time here without feeling threatened or harassed.'
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