“It happened when my mother and I were at the Christmas mass at a local church,” said Mrs Rich.

“As we walked in, I saw these empty seats. Since my mum has a walker, we left it in the back and approached the woman next to the seats, asking if she would mind if we sat there.

"She said no straight away and said she was saving the seats.

“I could not believe the attitude and asked again. She could see my mum was a fragile older lady but she just did not care,” she said.

Mrs Rich said that her mother Patricia was upset but did not want to create a scene, since they were at church.

“We stayed through the mass, but we had to sit at the isle, in the frame.

“Later we saw the people who the woman was saving the seats for, and two of them were youngsters. She could have easily given those seats away.”

The couple, who raised six children, said this was not an attack on the church, as it was just the location of something that has been happening way too often – disrespect for the elderly, the disabled, the pregnant, women with babies and so on.

“This is a clear case of parents not setting the right example,” Mr Murdoch said.

“It has nothing to do with the church itself, but it makes you wonder if people are going to church just to be socially seen. Are they listening to what is preached? Are you not supposed to love and respect others?”

The family emailed Bishop Greg O’Kelly to report the incident, but at the time The Recorder went to print they had not yet received a reply.

“We understand this is not the church’s responsibility, but maybe they need to reinforce at the beginning of the mass that people should give up their seats for the elderly, the disabled, the pregnant or whoever might need some assistance,” Mr Murdoch said.

“This incident distressed our whole family. Our children were disgusted.

“I think it is time people took a deep breath, thought about their attitudes and stopped being so selfish and disrespectful.

“One day you might be the one needing the seat!”