Transcript for Pontins

Watchdog, 14/05/14

Presenter: Chris Hollins

CHRIS (VOICE OVER)
In February, Sam Foster booked a family holiday to the Pontins resort in Southport.
SAM FOSTER: It was a little bit of a present for my son’s 11th birthday, it’s catered for families, we thought it would be ideal with lots of things to do and also it was advertised as the all-new Pontins, so we was expecting it to be refurbished.
CHRIS (VOICE OVER)
But within hours of arriving at the camp, it became clear that the facilities were anything but shiny and new.
SAM FOSTER: We were walking through the car park. My youngest son Ciaran, he started screaming. Turned to look at him he had his hands on his head, blood was coming down his face, he pulled his hair back to have a look and about an inch gash open wound clearly needed medical attention.
CHRIS (VOICE OVER)
The cause of the injury? A broken floodlight in the car park.
This capacitor had dropped out of the light fixture, fallen around 30 feet almost and struck Ciaran directly on the head, cracking it wide open.
Sam attempted to call for help from within the camp, phoning the number all Pontins guests are encouraged to use in an emergency. But no one picked up.
She then rushed Ciaran to the nearest hospital, where his head had to be glued back together.
The next morning Sam went to the manager to report the broken floodlight.
SAM FOSTER: There was still some metal hanging from the floodlight. He said that he would get that seen to straight away, however when we looked back the next day – so it had been two days since my son’s accident – it was still there, they hadn’t cordoned off the area, they hadn’t fixed the floodlight, they’d done nothing. I'm just really angry that one injury has happened and there was a potential hazard to cause another injury for somebody else. And it was ignored.
CHRIS (VOICE OVER)
Our team checked into the holiday park, armed themselves with cameras and secret filming kit, and headed out for a look around.
First things first. What about the broken floodlight that injured Sam’s son Ciaran?
Had that been fixed as promised?
No. Over three months later and it is still damaged.
But it looks like there are no further heavy components left – just a few dangling wires blowing in the wind. But there was a lot more to concern us elsewhere in the park.
CHRIS (VOICE OVER)
Despite there being signs everywhere imploring guests to keep the site clean, it appears Pontins have paid little attention to their own advice.
CHRIS (VOICE OVER)
Just a short walk from our room we found a broken gate – allowing easy access to a storage area for old TV units, broken ladders and wooden pallets, hundreds of pots of paint and, most worryingly of all, this - a cabinet containing highly flammable petroleum.
CHRIS (VOICE OVER)
But you didn’t need to venture behind broken gates to find danger lurking.
This arcade was undergoing construction work. But the door was left wide open, offering easy access to the unattended building machinery.
Whilst we didn’t see anyone from the complex guarding the site, we did see numerous inquisitive children, keen to explore inside.
CHRIS (VOICE OVER)
But the worst scenes we found weren’t behind broken gates or building site doors someone perhaps forgot to close. They were here, in the resort’s public car park.
Take a look at what we found dumped, all just a few metres from the resort’s accommodation blocks.
None of these broken and abandoned items were cordoned off. And there were no signs warning of potential hazards.
They were all left lying on the ground, grass, accessible to absolutely anyone. Anyone.
There is no doubt – following what happened to Ciaran, there is the potential here for a lot more accidents to happen….