A MUM was moved on from Ashton Town Hall steps while bottle feeding her baby.

Tina Philburn sat on the steps in desperation after failing to find a seat which was not surrounded by smokers to feed 11-week-old daughter, Skye.

But she says she was told by a security to "move or be moved".

Tina, 26, had been shopping with husband Ryan when she realised Skye needed a bottle.

"We’d been wandering around for a while but there wasn’t a single place, it was full of people smoking," she said.

"I didn’t want my baby breathing in cigarette smoke so I thought the side of the steps would be a convenient place but within seconds a security guard came over and asked me what I thought I was doing.

"He was standing over me, overshadowing me, and told me to ‘move or be moved’."

Tina, of Crompton Street, Ashton said the guard was insistent, even when she told him she would only be five minutes.

She added: "It’s disgusting that I was spoken to like that. I could understand it if I was some yob and there were 20 of us but I was just trying to feed my baby.

"New mums have a hard enough time as it is and this has knocked my confidence as a mother to go out and feed my child.

"I will come home from now on and feed Skye where I know I will not be shouted at."

A spokesman for Tameside Council said it was a health and safety issue.

"It is important to keep the town hall steps clear at peak times as they are the building’s main evacuation route," he said.

"However, with regard to the allegation that our guard was rude to this person, we can only apologise. We encourage our staff to be polite and courteous at all times."