A Barry Manilow fan says he was banned from meeting his idol after staff claimed his wig and jacket were an insult to the singer.

Wayne Denton and business partner Janet Martin spent £2,480 on VIP packages for the star's show in Liverpool, which included a meet-and-greet.

The superfans have watched Manilow perform more than 20 times, including in Las Vegas and Toronto, but had never met him.

After a front-row experience at the M&S Bank Arena, Mr Denton, 69, who performs a Manilow tribute act called Celebrating Barry, was 'humiliated' when the singer's team refused him entry due to his orange sparkly jacket and wig.

Ms Martin, 54, a backing singer in the tribute act, said: 'When they said about losing the wig, I just said "this is really insulting".

'It's a real hair wig, and replicates Wayne's own hair before he went bald. I was taken aback... I thought, that's really personal and a very sensitive subject.

'What did they expect us to do? Humiliate Wayne in the middle of this corridor, whipping a wig off? Could you imagine anybody having to do that? That's really bad.'

In a recording backstage, a man can be heard telling Mr Denton to remove his wig and jacket.

Another staff member said: 'I'm sorry. I've been instructed we can't do the wig and the jacket.'

When Ms Martin responded that asking him to remove the wig was insulting, the man replied: 'It's actually insulting to Barry, so it's an absolute no.'

The first staff member then interjected 'it's nothing to do with wearing a wig', before the second said: 'You are both being insulting to Mr Manilow. We're not having this argument.'

After attempting a compromise by removing the jacket but not the wig, they were denied entry.

In the recording, Ms Martin said neither the booking confirmation nor emails mentioned a dress code. The staff member replied: 'Come on, it's common sense.'

Mr Denton, from Stourbridge, West Midlands, suggested Ms Martin attend the meet-and-greet without him, but she refused to abandon her friend.

Staff later said they would be refunded, apart from the cost of their seats.

Speaking about the incident on June 13, Ms Martin said: 'How can anyone find us insulting?

'We were wearing this joyous celebratory outfit celebrating Barry's return to the stage. He's been ill, and no one thought he was going to tour.'

Designed by Ms Martin, from Essex, the jacket is one of eight in a collection inspired by the 83-year-old Copacabana singer.

She added: 'We'd been at the front all night, dancing and enjoying ourselves, singing along. Barry was six feet away. So does he think we're disgusting? They [the staff] said 'we've been told', so who told them? Or did they make it up on the spot?'

A spokesman for Mr Manilow was contacted for comment.