Pontins drew up blacklist which saw guests with Irish surnames banned from booking

Pontins drew up a list of commons Irish surnames and labelled them as "undesirable guests", a damning report has found.

Staff working for the holiday company were told to decline or cancel bookings made under those names, while call centre staff were also told to listen to Irish accents to identify travellers.

Pontins, owned by Britannia Jinky Jersey Limited, was found to have discriminated against Irish Travellers who tried to book stays at its resorts The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said.

It also found Irish Travellers and people associated with them were listed as ‘undesirables’.

Pontins also introduced a rule requiring guests to appear on the electoral register, a practice found to be discriminatory against Travellers, who are less likely to be on the register.

The EHRC argues this amounts to several breaches of the Equality Act.

The business has been served with an unlawful act notice by the organisation due to the "multiple instances of race discrimination against Irish Travellers" uncovered during its investigation.

The EHRC said it was first alerted to these practices by a whistle blower in 2020 which led to the equality watchdog entering into a legally binding agreement with Pontins in 2021, to end the practices and prevent further discrimination.

However, after Pontins failed to comply with the agreement’s terms, the EHRC terminated the agreement in 2022 and launched a formal investigation.

Pontins has recently closed three of its venues without warning.

In December it announced its Camber Sands holiday park in East Sussex, and Prestatyn site in Wales, would close with immediate effect, while in January it said its Southport location was also now closed.

After having 30 parks in its heyday, only three sites now remain.

Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chairwoman of the EHRC, said the investigation had found "shocking overt race discrimination".

“Our investigation into Pontins uncovered flagrant breaches of the Equality Act 2010," she said.

"Their business practices demonstrated shocking overt race discrimination towards Irish Travellers and there was a culture of denial.

“We remain deeply concerned about these discriminatory practices. They were instigated and supported by senior managers and their leadership failed to take any action or accept corporate responsibility.

“Such unlawful and discriminatory behaviour is completely unacceptable, and it must never be tolerated.”

Chris McDonagh, campaigns officer at Friends, Families and Travellers, said: “It is deeply saddening that Irish Traveller people have become so used to hate and prejudice that the Pontins ‘blacklist’ did not come as a surprise.

“Whilst we are certain that Pontins are not the only ones operating such discriminatory policies, we welcome the EHRC’s investigation and commend the whistleblower’s principled stance. Everyone deserves to live free from hate and prejudice.”

Britannia have been approached for comment.