Guest says she was assaulted at Tory conference

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, The alleged assault took place in a bar at The Midland hotel, at the Conservative party conference in Manchester.

The Conservatives say they are "working with the police" after an energy boss attending their party conference said she was "violently assaulted" by a man.

Clementine Cowton, director of external affairs at Octopus Energy Group, told a fringe event the incident happened in the bar of The Midland hotel in Manchester.

The party member involved has been suspended and had his pass revoked.

The Conservatives say the behaviour is "completely unacceptable".

According to a report in The Times newspaper, Ms Cowton was in the hotel bar - one of the main destinations at the autumn political gathering - when a drunk man in his 30s, sat in a seat vacated by her friend.

She said he made her so uncomfortable that she asked him "several times politely to leave" and when he refused to do so, she took his phone and dropped it on the floor.

"He went to retrieve it and then he came back and attacked me," Ms Cowton told the paper.

According to the report, Ms Cowton said the man tried to punch her but was stopped by others in the bar, with the resulting scuffle ending up with her glass being smashed.

"He was very intoxicated and I felt a bit unsafe around him", she added.

And in a video posted on the ConservativeHome website, Ms Cowton told the guests in the audience she was "sorry to dump this on everyone, it's a bit of a surprise".

But she said she wanted to take the opportunity to highlight how "women are often unsafe in places where other people feel safe".

And she said it was "really important that we start to take that much more seriously as a society and starting with the police".

"I'm fine by the way, don't worry" she added.

A Conservative spokeswoman said the man's party membership has been suspended.

"This behaviour is completely unacceptable and the party has revoked the pass of the individual concerned and is working with the police", she added.

In a statement, Greater Manchester Police said they responded to reports of an assault on a woman at The Midland hotel at around 00:30 BST on Monday.

They said there were no reports of any injuries and no arrests were made but a man was identified and had his conference pass removed.

The investigation into what happened is ongoing they said, adding: "Women's safety is a top priority, and something we continue to take incredibly seriously."