A row has blown up recently when the Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Grayling was secretly taped suggesting people who run B&Bs in their own home "have the right" to turn away homosexual couples. This follows the case of Christian B&B owner Susanne Wilkinson of Berkshire who was reported to police after refusing to take a gay couple as it was "against her convictions".

Was Chris Grayling correct "that an individual has the right to decide who does or doesn't come into their home"? Or do you agree with Ben Summerskill chief executive of gay rights group Stonewall who says "The legal position is perfectly clear. If you are going to offer the public a commercial service - and B&Bs are a commercial service - then people cannot be refused that service on grounds of sexuality. No one is obliged to run a B&B, but people who do so have to obey the law.

How do you feel at the sharp-end? We e-mailed over 5000 B&B owners with a simple question. Should B&B owners be allowed to refuse entry to same-sex couples, Yes or No?. Of the 412 responses received, 284 said Yes & 128 No, a majority of nearly 70%.

From the comments received, it appears a small proportion of the Yes’s are against same-sex relationships on moral and religious grounds, with many quoting the Bible. However the majority voting Yes feel it is their home and they have the right to refuse entry to anyone for any reason. The people commonly refused include, scruffy people, smelly people, drunks, workmen in dirty working clothes, previous problem guests, small children, hen nights, stag nights the list goes on.

Please note the views expressed are not necessarily those of Lyon Insurance Services.