AN actor dad has slammed Octagon bosses for refusing to allow him and his wife to take their baby to a recent play.

Matthew James was told he could not take his six-week-old daughter, Charlotte, to watch a recent performance of 'Ticket to Write Four'.

The snub meant he and his 39-year-old wife, Liz, a professional actress, could not watch the play in which one of their friends was performing. Mr James, a 37-year-old amateur actor and member of Bolton Little Theatre, has blasted Octagon chiefs, accusing them of worsening the venue's financial plight.

The problem arose after Mr James, who lives in Hondwith Close, Bromley Cross, asked about the possibility of buying a ticket for his baby and was told his request had been ruled out. He said: "Their attitude was people go to the theatre to get away from children.

"But at a time when breweries and cinemas are relaxing their house rules on the admission of infants and young children to 'catch them young', theatres like the Octagon surely can't afford to ignore the potential of the very young.

"We couldn't find a babysitter, but Charlotte is a quiet baby and wouldn't have been a problem to anyone else."

'Ticket To Write Four' is a series of short plays co-produced by the West Yorkshire Playhouse and Paines Plough. It was performed at the theatre on November 3 and 4. Managers at the West Yorkshire Playhouse have also questioned the decision not to allow the baby into the production.

A Playhouse spokesman said: "We certainly do not have a closed door policy ourselves. What we do when somebody inquires about our plays is to tell them the nature of it and whether it would be suitable for children.

"But parents know their own children best and only they can gauge whether a child will get restless or not.

"We would not refuse entry to a six-week-old child in a case such as this, but different theatres have different policies and I think that is what we have seen here."

Octagon officials said the only seats available to Mr James were at the end of a block which would mean either he or his wife would have had to walk through the audience to the exit if the baby started to cry.

A spokesman said it was the theatre's policy not to allow ticket sales to people with "babies-in-arms".

He added: "It is because of fire regulations and health and safety rules. We also have to think about the rest of the audience and the performers. They would not want to be disrupted by the possibility of a child crying."