Hospital chiefs have apologised for the mix-up which left a disabled woman waiting in a taxi for nearly an hour during a royal visit.

Jen Blackman, 51, of Marston, was featured in yesterday's Oxford Mail after security staff refused to let her get out of her cab when she visited the hospital for an appointment on Monday, at the same time the Princess Royal was there. The Princess had been at the Nuffield to officially open the Aiding Communication in Education centre. A spokesman for the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre said: "Our security staff were working under the direction of the police as we do on all royal visits.

Mary Marlborough Lodge, where the Wheelchair Centre is based, scheduled down as many appointments as possible so we did not have too many people on site. However, we would be happy to investigate any individual complaint." Jen told the Oxford Mail: "I am voicing something for disabled people here because I do think we are discriminated against and if I see something I do not agree with I will speak up about it."

She said the taxi fare had cost her a lot more than it should have done because the driver left the meter running during the hour-long wait.

Story date: Thursday 15 April

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