The owner of a Melbourne cafe has come under fire over claims his staff would not allow a customer to feed her eight-month-old baby at their tables.

Steve Loupos – joint proprietor of the Frankston Bayside Degani cafe – told the Frankston Standard Leader he rejected the claims made by customer Tracey Palmer, who took to social media last week to express her outrage over the alleged incident, which involved her daughter and grandchild.

“My daughter was there and had bought a coffee and cake and was sitting down, only to be told she was not allowed to bottle-feed her hungry eight-week-old baby,” wrote Ms Palmer on Facebook, before the story was picked up by the News Corp local paper.

Having received a number of phone calls from those outraged by the post, Mr Loupos insisted the incident did not take place.

“I have been here for 11 years. I would never refuse to warm up a bottle for a mum,” said Mr Loupos. “It’s something that did not happen.”

In a further Facebook post, Ms Palmer went on to explain the incident in detail, claiming that her daughter asked the staff to heat up a baby’s bottle, which they responded would not be possible.

“Jess [her daughter] thought the girl was mucking around but much to her disgust she was serious – so then spoke to a manager who also told her the same,” she wrote.

Her daughter then proceeded to ask for a refund, which she was denied, after having taken a sip out of her coffee.

Despite Mr Loupos’ claims that the incident did not take place, the Degani head office posted a public apology.

Source: Herald Sun