Kelly Schaecher (foreground in purple top) leads the flashmob after her humiliating experience
More than 250 mothers descended upon an upmarket cafe for a "sit in" protest after a young woman claimed she was asked to breastfeed in the corner and then verbally abused by a waitress.
Kelly Schaecher said she was preparing to breastfeed her daughter Sasha at The Park Street Café in Bristol, when she was asked to move seats and sit in the corner.
The humiliated 28-year-old fled the café in tears, telling The Sun the waitress followed her outside, shouting: "Don't you ever come back to my café with your t*** out again!"
Kelly shared her experience on Twitter and Facebook, rousing the support of hundreds of mothers determined to retaliate.
A breastfeeding flashmob was quickly assembled, with participants having to queue up to feed their babies in the café. Other supporters paraded outside the building, holding aloft signs reading "Lactavists" and "Mother Suckers".
Kelly, from Bristol, who is currently on maternity leave from her administrator job at Bristol University, said she was "delighted so many people came".
She said: "When I was asked to move I just felt so ashamed. It made me feel really self-conscious and embarrassed even though I wasn't actually doing anything wrong.
Scroll down for a slideshow of images from the flashmob
Mothers in arms: The flashmob attracted more than 250 people
"I told some friends who set up a Facebook group and this is what it has exploded to; a group of breastfeeding mothers who want to prove a point."
The women were given free coffee and cakes by apologetic cafe owner Davide Pontini.
Davide, an Italian entrepreneur, told the huge crowd of mothers and supporters: "I want to reassure you all that breastfeeding is totally OK in my cafe.
"It's not within my character to hang my head in shame and that's why I'm here today to speak to you all and apologise.
"This whole thing started from a misunderstanding but now things have changed for the better and I hope that women will feel comfortable breastfeeding here."
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One mother described the event as "an extreme coffee morning" while others talked about how this event would give them new confidence feeding in public.
Kate Wilshire, who attended the event with her sister, said: "What happened to Kelly was disgusting.
"I'm not very confident breastfeeding in public and if that happened to me I would be put off completely, it's bad enough when people pull funny faces."
Another young mother added: "Mothers can already be self-conscious about breast feeding in public so something like this could crush you."
Speaking after the event Kelly praised the success of the protest declaring it "perfect".
She added: "It is exactly what I wanted, we've all had free coffee and cakes and now Davide has put the 'we welcome breastfeeding' sign in the window.
"It's a winning situation for everyone involved. I have accepted the apologies."
