A horse-shoe fitter stood up to a cinemagoer he felt was discriminating against a disabled man during a lunchtime screening of Star Wars in Epsom last week.

Surrey Comet:

Chewbacca and Han Solo in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Alister Ibbotson, 29, a qualified farrier, decided to take action while watching Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens at the Odeon cinema in Upper High Street, Epsom at about 1pm on Friday, January 8.

An unknown disabled man enjoying the film with his two carers was cheering and shouting at the screen as new heroes Rey and Finn from a galaxy far, far away took on Kylo Ren and the evil First Order.

Mr Ibbotson, from Meadow Walk, Walton-on-the-Hill, said all but one of the cinemagoers were happy for the man to be enjoying himself so vocally.

One man however, he claims, turned over to the dark side and got up from his seat, walked across the cinema and confronted the disabled man, yelling for his carers to "control him."

Surrey Comet:

Sensing a disturbance in the force, 6ft 7ins Mr Ibbotson (pictured above) stood up to the man he says was abusive.

He said: "I’ve grown up with a lot of people who are disabled and I’d never seen anything like that.

"I was so pissed off that someone could turn around and say something like that.

"It’s Star Wars. The film is loud, so he wasn’t ruining it for anybody."

Ushers entered the theatre and tried to reason with the man, while Mr Ibbotson intervened and suggested that he leave - which he promptly did.

Mr Ibbotson was disappointed he couldn’t take a photograph in the darkened cinema to ‘shame the bully', but felt it was important to stand up to discrimination and shine a light on it.

He said: "I asked the people around me if they were OK with this guy, and they all said yes.

"He certainly didn’t ruin the film for me either.

"The guy was just enjoying himself and that’s the main thing."

An Odeon spokesman said: "Following comments between guests during a film on Friday afternoon, a member of our team quickly spoke with both parties sensitively and the guests stayed to enjoy the remainder of the film."