Airline to passenger: Cover up if you want to check in

She was all set to fly to Mallorca, Spain, to celebrate an 18th birthday.

Miss Alix Townsend and her 18 friends were at Manchester Airport, ready for a holiday in the sun.

She was even dressed for a sunny vacation - in denim shorts.

But the shorts did not pass muster with the airport staff, the Mail Online reported.

Miss Townsend, who has a place to study law at a university, claimed that a Monarch Airlines supervisor told her to take off her high-cut shorts in front of hundreds of passengers before checking in.

She claimed that the airlines staff told her that the shorts were "cut extremely high and the cheeks of her bottom were visible".

She claimed that she was not allowed to go to the toilet to change, and was left in tears after being forced to strip by the check-in desk.

In front of queueing travellers, she raided her suitcase and put on a long kaftan that covered her so she could wriggle out of her denim shorts and swap them for a longer pair of white cotton ones, she claimed.

Miss Townsend told the Mail Online: "I felt distraught - it was very embarrassing. I did not feel my outfit was inappropriate - there were other passengers in similar dress. When the supervisor told me to change rather rudely, I was taken aback.

"I agreed as I did not want to risk not getting on the flight. But when I asked if I could go to the toilet to change... she made me change in front of everyone."

A Monarch Airlines spokesman denied she was told she could not go to the toilet to change, adding: "Miss Townsend was politely asked to change to comply with the airline's dress policy. We do not believe there are grounds for complaint."

Miss Townsend said the airlines staff had enough time to go to her while she was queueing. She said she could have gone away and changed and "maintained some dignity".

Her father, managing director of an advertising firm, was livid: "To single out my daughter for her attire is unacceptable. She was dressed appropriately.

"She was understandably distraught. Other passengers were dressed in a risqué manner but not told to change."

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