A bride-to-be was left "absolutely devastated" after a wedding venue staff member sent an email trashing her parents and Hull residents.

The offensive message called Bekkie Barker's parents "socially retarded" because "they're from Hull".

It was sent after Miss Barker, her mum and her stepdad went to an open day at Bunny Hill Weddings in North Cliffe, East Yorkshire.

She had originally booked her big day there but cancelled it with a full refund after the email arrived in her inbox, Hull Live reports.

Miss Barker shows off her engagement ring ahead of her wedding (
Image:
Bekkie Barker)

Miss Barker has spoken out after a screenshot of the email went viral on Facebook and provoked outrage.

What the email said

The message on the bride-to-be's Facebook post reads: "The phone call was terrible, she said you didn't have time for them and that Paul was a liar.

"Her parents are the couple at the end of my video the other day...laughing and drinking their fourth round of free drinks!

"It destroys your faith in human nature! I think there must be a message hidden in my website that says only the socially retarded may visit! Or perhaps its cos they're from Hull."

The email calling Miss Barker's mum and stepdad "socially retarded" (
Image:
Hull Live)

The bride-to-be's reaction

Sharon Wood, the owner of Bunny Hill Weddings, says the email was sent by someone who has now been sacked, and she has profusely apologised.

But Miss Barker still feels very upset about what happened.

She said: "What was written in the email was absolutely outrageous.

"People can say what they like about me, but saying things about my family really hurts.

"My family were absolutely devastated when they saw what had been said - it broke our hearts, and we are really tough.

The bride-to-be says she's proud to be from Hull (
Image:
Bekkie Barker)

"None of my family are disabled, but if they were and had seen the message, it would have been even worse.

"My mum was also upset about the comment on how many drinks they had, as it was just wrong. She only had a prosecco and my stepdad had a juice as he was driving.

"It not only insulted my family, but badly insulted everyone else from Hull - I'm proud to be from here and I know my family are too."

Owner 'receives death threats'

Ms Wood said she has received nasty messages and death threats, which left her terrified.

However, Miss Barker stresses that this is not her doing.

She said: "The death threats are nothing to do with me or anyone I know, and I absolutely don't condone them as nobody deserves to be treated like that.

"I wasn't going to make it public, but decided to in the end as they never said sorry.

Miss Barker had planned to get married at Bunny Hill Weddings
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"It was only when I shared the post and people were commenting on it that I actually got an apology - the initial reply to the email was just to ask if we had got the refund, and it didn't acknowledge that they had said or done anything wrong in the email.

"If they'd have just replied in the first place, took responsibility and owned up to the email and apologised, I wouldn't have taken it any further.

"I just wanted other people to know what we'd been through so the same didn't happen to them."

The incident has left Miss Barker and her partner Tom Haytack feeling deflated about finding another venue.

"My fiancé loved the venue and is a very chilled person but he also got really annoyed," she said.

"When we booked the venue, we felt amazing but now it has been taken away from us, it feels so hard to start it again.

"It was meant to be the most amazing time of my life, but it has been overshadowed by all that has gone on."

Amid the alleged threats and online abuse, it appeared on Sunday that Bunny Hill Weddings had taken its Facebook page offline.