Blind teenagers celebrating a friend's birthday were turned away from two Mid Sussex night clubs by bouncers who demanded driving licences as ID.

Sophie Aston, 19, and three friends, who are all blind or partially sighted, were looking forward to celebrating a friend's 18th at Brannigans in Crawley Leisure Park.

But they were told they could not enter without driving licences to prove their ages.

Sophie, who has been blind since she was three, offered her student identification but the group was still turned away.

The friends, who had travelled from Wales, Essex and London to meet for the birthday celebration, were then turned away from a second club, the Ikon, for the same reason.

Sophie, due to start an English literature degree at Canterbury Christ Church University College in September, is furious about the way they were treated.

She said: "I'm glad I made a fuss, but I'm still really angry. I'd been in Brannigans just three days before, and have been there on lots of other occasions and never had any problems.

"They are normally fab, so I don't know what the problem was. It's such a shame because Hannah, whose birthday it was, had come all the way from Wales.

"We'd had a great night up until then - TGI Friday's had given us Braille menus and everything. But being turned away ruined the night.

"It was so humiliating to be asked for drivers' licences when we obviously couldn't drive.

"We all had college cards and other kinds of ID, but they said they did not take them."

The friends met at RNIB New College, a boarding school for students with serious sight problems in Worcester.

However, they are going to give the celebration a second go and have been offered a VIP bubbly night at Brannigans and complimentary tickets by Ikon.

Sophie, from Pease Pottage, said: "It's nice to be offered these nights, but I'd rather we had just been allowed in in the first place.

"We live all over the place so it's hard to get everyone together, but we're going to try to get the same group together in a couple of weeks' time."

Her father, Norman Aston, said: "They were all dressed up and beautifully turned out - I can't understand why they were given such hassle."

Brannigans and Ikon both say they do not accept NUS cards because they can be forged.

Brannigans' general manager Andy Kelly said: "We would like to say sorry for spoiling their night by giving them a VIP bubbly night of their choice."

Ikon deputy manager Samuel Clegg wrote to Sophie to offer her and her friends free tickets and said: "We have been instructed by the relevant authorities that we can under no circumstances accept NUS or other student cards as proof of age."