Maureen Salter, 64, who has heart problems and arthritis, said she was left sore for the rest of her holiday in Brean Sands, Somerset
A grandmother claims she was catapulted into a wall when her bed broke in a Pontins holiday from hell.
Maureen Salter, 64, who has heart problems and arthritis, said she was left sore for the rest of her holiday in Brean Sands, Somerset, after falling from the broken bed on her first evening.
She said the incident was one of a list of complaints about the five-day break at the camp in Brean Sands, Somerset which she took with eight other family members.
Maureen and husband, Andrew, had been looking forward to going away on their only holiday of the year with their two children and four grandchildren.
But she said things were so bad they are now demanding a refund of the £1,000 they paid after other alleged problems including the fire alarm and sprinkler taped up in their chalet, food served on dirty dishes in the canteen, waiters using the same cloth to wipe floors and tables, stinking overflowing bins and a broken sewage pipe outside their chalet, plug sockets coming away from the wall and scalding hot water in the taps.
Other holiday-makers have claimed they found bed bugs, mice and bloodworms in their dirty rooms at the same resort.
Earlier this month the local council confirmed that environmental health officers have visited the site after receiving complaints about the accommodation.
Retired plasterer Mr Salter, 65, from Plymouth, Devon, said: ‘It was a sham.
‘On the first night we went to go to bed and the leg on my son’s bed was broken.
‘The manager said there was nothing he could do but sent security guards to us who had nothing to do with it.
‘We were given a number for maintenance but there was no one there.
‘They planned to get a sledgehammer and knock the legs off but I encouraged them just to get a screwdriver and take them off so my son was left there basically sleeping on the floor.
She said things were so bad they are now demanding a refund of the £1,000 they paid after other alleged problems including the fire alarm (left) and sprinkler (right) taped up in their chalet
Plug sockets coming away from the wall (left) and scalding hot water in the taps
‘I got into my bed and it just tipped up and my wife fell out. It was quite worrying because she’s disabled.
‘They said they’d fix them but it just kept tipping again and the legs would pop off so they said ‘here’s how you do it’ and they wanted us to do it ourselves from then on.
‘After a fight to get it to happen the manager said he’d get us new beds.
‘But the next day, when it didn’t happen, we were told ‘I don’t know why he said that because he’s left’ and that had been his last shift.’
He added: ‘In the restaurant we watched the waiters using the same cloth on the floor as on the tables.
‘We went to get soup and our bowls were disgustingly dirty – they hadn’t been washed – you had yesterday’s dinner on the bottom of them. It just put you off eating.
A loose screw on the base of the bed, from which the grandmother was allegedly catapulted from
Earlier this month the local council confirmed that environmental health officers have visited the site after receiving complaints about the accommodation
The family had two chalets side by side and said they endured the stench of a broken sewage pipe and overflowing bins outside their doors
‘My friend paid £400 for their chalet and was given a key that didn’t fit and they could see a handbag and someone’s belongings inside. They then realised it said a different number on the key for number 300 and headed there.
‘But his daughter found a wallet and handbag in the bedroom. He complained to them saying ‘well how can you guarantee the safety of my belongings?
‘It seemed as if everyone who was queuing to arrive were queuing up just an hour later to complain.’
The family had two chalets side by side and said they endured the stench of a broken sewage pipe and overflowing bins outside their doors.
They also said that the fire alarm and sprinkler in their chalet were taped up and out of action.