TEENAGER Rachel was in tears after a group of men taunted her because of her disability during a night out in Bolton.

Now, because of her experience, police have launched a campaign to make Bolton town centre a safer and better place for disabled people.

The 19-year-old, who wants to be known only by her first name, suffers from achondroplasia, a condition which restricts her growth.

Last November she was dancing in a bar in town when men began pointing and laughing at her, swearing and hurling abuse.

Rachel and her boyfriend, who suffers from the same condition as her, were so upset that they decided to leave.

She said: “The group also left at the same time and continued to take the mickey out of us, swearing at us, pretending that they couldn’t see us and they were generally mocking us.

“What made it worse, were the door staff —they just stood there, with their arms folded, watching and sniggering, without making any attempt to stop the group.

“When we got home, I couldn’t stop crying. My make-up had run, and my mum was panicking, thinking that we had been attacked or something worse. I was heartbroken — too upset to explain what had happened.”

Sgt Paul Ellis, from the Bolton Central Neighbourhood Police Team, heard about Rachel’s story—and he was so moved by it that he decided to launch the “I’m Not Laughing”

campaign to eradicate disability hate crime.

The campaign, which is being supported by a number of high-profile disabled people, involves training bar and security staff to understand the issues that affect disabled people — and telling them what their legal and moral obligations are.

About 77 per cent of bars in Bolton town centre have already been given the training and will be presented with certificates when the campaign is launched on Saturday.

Sgt Ellis said: “It opened my eyes to disability hate crime and the effect that it can have on people. The staff should have intervened — regardless of the law, they should have done something from a moral point of view.”

He said the campaign, which is being run by the Bolton Be Safe Partnership, is unique in the UK.

The campaign will be launched at 7pm on Saturday in The Bar, Nelson Square.