Snooker player left waiting over aeroplane access

A disability snooker player has said he has been left in the dark by the airline he has booked to take him to the inaugural world championships in Thailand.

Matt Lester, who has cerebral palsy, is due to play in the World Disability Snooker Championship in less than a fortnight, but has yet to receive confirmation he can keep his electric wheelchair in the cargo hold.

The 36-year-old from Doncaster said he had attempted to resolve the situation for a month but was yet to gain a response from airline operator Thai Airways.

The airline has been contacted by the BBC for a comment.

Mr Lester said his wheelchair's battery could not be removed and taken in hand luggage, therefore he required the green light from the airline to transport his wheelchair in the cargo hold.

"It isn't an option for me not to go," he said.

"If I have to book a different flight then I have to book a different flight I'll fly with someone else," he said, but this would mean paying for two sets of tickets.

He believes, out of all the forms of public transport he has used, planes are "15 to 20 years behind everybody else in terms of accessibility."

"I've never known anything like it," he said.

Despite the situation, Mr Lester's staying positive: "If anyone's got Richard Branson's phone number, tell him I'll put a badge on my waistcoat and he can sponsor me to go," he joked.

He discovered disability snooker on TV when he was 13 years old, and has since travelled across the the globe to compete in the sport.

In October, he narrowly missed out on a bronze medal at the European Disability Snooker Championship in Portugal.

The World Championship is the first of its kind and will be held in the city of Nonthaburi between 23 February and 2 March.

This time he is going for the top spot.

"I don't want to go to Thailand for a bronze medal, I want to come back and be the world champion," he said.

"But on top of all my preparations, I've had to put up with this."

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