Health officials 'satisfied' with Pontins safety following hygiene complaints
Video report by ITV News Meridian's James Dunham
Environmental health say they are satisfied with precautions to prevent Covid-19 at Pontins in Camber Sands.Officials visited the holiday park in Sussex after a series of complaints over hygiene which were highlighted by ITV News Meridian earlier this month.From filthy floors, to food left in fridges, flooded bathrooms and people finding other guests' rubbish in their chalets - there was no shortage of customer complaints.
Rother District Council say they have no control over the quality or cleanliness of temporary holiday accommodation, but insist any complaint is taken very seriously. It said: “In recent days, Environmental Health Officers have carried out an inspection at the Camber site and found the standard of food hygiene was very good - a FHRS 5 awarded. In addition, we were satisfied that precautions being carried out to prevent Covid-19 infections were good.”Within minutes of entering her chalet with her family, Rachael Skelton’s five-year old daughter Ruby cut her foot on a shard of glass which had not been cleaned from her chalet.
Rachel said: “It was awful. I personally think it should be shut down. I’ve seen a lot of people wanting it to be shut down and I think they’re right. It’s not okay for people to be there, a child’s got hurt and this is place for families."Ruby says it made her feel ‘very sad’: “We stepped near the door near the bed and got glass in my feet. It was very sharp.”
The Pontins site appears to be trying to clean up its image with footage obtained by ITV Meridian showing one of the chalets being deep cleaned.
However, some guests, such as Dawn King, made complaints to environmental health several years ago and can’t believe that people are still experiencing problems.Dawn says: “There are thousands of people that have complained and I know that many people have got to environmental health and not gone any where. Rother should shut them down.”Rother District council told us: “Many raise issues that we do not have jurisdiction over and have no powers to address. For those where we do have enforcement powers, thorough investigation is carried out and all necessary action is taken. “We have licensing powers, powers to control food safety and structural safety, and powers under the Health and Safety at Work Act. We have no control over the quality or cleanliness of temporary holiday accommodation, and these complaints should be directed to the companies providing the accommodation.”
Since 2011 all Pontins sites have been owned by a company called Britannia hotels.Rory Boland from Which believes the parks problems could be solved if more money was put in.He says: “If a place is not clean enough then you’re not getting cleaners in frequently enough. Another complaint we often hear is that it’s shabby, it’s run down, it’s marks on the wall, bits falling apart and that comes down to investment.”ITV News Meridian has contacted Pontins through email and by phone for several weeks to try and get an official response to the complaints and concerns raised about its park in Camber Sands.So far there has been no acknowledgement of our requests.