A mother-of-three from Fishponds was devastated after she was verbally abused by a man who refused to believe her blind son was disabled.

Hazel Ridge, who stands 4ft 10in, and her children were left sobbing on the pavement after the man shouted at her.

She had gone to Broadmead during half-term to buy new shoes for Peter, 10, Christopher, eight, and Charlie, three.

The 28-year-old had parked in one of several disabled spaces along the Horsefair and unloaded the children including Christopher who suffers with a rare condition called Leber's congenital amaurosis.

The condition affects the working of his retina making him almost totally blind although he can pick out bright lights.

But as Miss Ridge made her way to the shops, the gentleman sitting in a disabled space behind her, who she believes was in his 70s, launched a verbal attack.

Miss Ridge, 28, said: "I had got all the children out and had Christopher holding on to the pram.

"We had just set off and a man leaned out of his window and started shouting at me and saying I didn't look disabled. I said I wasn't disabled but one of my children was and he shouted at me that none of them looked disabled either.

"I got really angry and told him he was ignorant because not all disabilities are obvious.

"He even admitted he was not disabled but that his wife was. That is what was so stupid, he was in exactly the same boat as me.

"I don't know why he thought he could have a go at me, he was not a traffic warden. It was very upsetting.

"I ended up crying my eyes out and it upset the children as well. I think he must have just thought I was small and an easy target for a bully.

"I did take his registration down and thought about contacting the police but decided against it because they have more important jobs to do."

Miss Ridge, who is studying for a degree in life sciences and lives with partner Henry, 32, said it is not the first time people have been angry.

"When I get on a plane at the airport with Christopher I can feel people watching and thinking 'why are they getting special treatment?' because to all intents and purposes Christopher looks like any other child.

"He goes to mainstream school and in most ways is like any other eight-year-old.

"People need to understand being disabled doesn't mean having to be in a wheelchair."

Bill Alker from the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) said: "Accusing people of not having a disability when they are disabled is wrong, pointless and inconsiderate and can lead to some disabled people being treated less fairly than others."