“No singles, sorry love"...I was turned away from a bar because I was on my own

“No singles, sorry love. I can’t let you in by yourself.”

It’s a Thursday night in busy Manchester city centre, and I’m off on a mission to investigate a tip about a bar that won’t let people in unless they’re with a group.

My quest is inspired by a story told to the Manchester Evening News by a woman refused entry to Ramona in Ancoats on the basis that they had a ‘no singles’ policy - something management have since denied.

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In the spirit of true investigative journalism, we decided we had to try to get in ourselves - I told my news editor I’d stop by Ramona on my way to a friends’ in Ancoats that evening, following the publication of her account. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I was welcomed with open arms (and delicious pizza).

But while the issue at Ramona may have been an unfortunate one off, I was tipped off by a friend that it isn’t the only venue in town where singles have trouble. “You know you can’t get in Behind Closed Doors by yourself?” she texted me, after I explained to her my slightly odd evening itinerary.

Her text was later confirmed by my flatmate, who told me he’d had to have a friend come up and meet him from downstairs when he previously tried to enter by himself - and that he’d seen a woman refused entry after her phone was dead and she was unable to call her friends.

Curiosity piqued, I headed to the Northern Quarter bar to see whether I’d be admitted entry on my lonesome. I greeted the bouncer cheerily - who asked if I had friends I was meeting already inside. I told him it was “just me”.

Looking slightly taken aback, he asked me again if I was meeting someone else. Again, I repeated I just wanted a drink in