Southport

Last weekend I went to Southport with my wife, kids and parents. My wife, children and mum had driven up on Thursday, stopping off for a night with my brother-in-law in Ilkley.

He moved up there to run a fish and chip shop with his boyfriend a few years back so, we don't see as much of him as we'd like.

Anyway we went to Southport to use it as a base for a few visits to my family who mainly live in and around Merseyside. There are now so many of us that it's not fair to stay over at my Grandma's house. We usually stay at a travel lodge/inn but as they have recently put their prices up we thought we'd go for some budget accommodation at Pontins, Southport.

I have a very early memory, I was about 2 years old, of having a sore ear with a scab on it. Apparently this was from friction burns on the bumpy slide at this Pontins. Well, the slide's gone but just about everything else seems to be unchanged in 30-odd years and I don't think they've cleaned since then either.

I know it was budget but that doesn't mean dirty and inadequate. The floor was filthy; greasy carpet with soil and cigarette butts littered about. The wardrobes were designed without doors, presumably to save money, one of them also had no hanging rail.

The place was supposed to sleep seven at most and it did but if there are seven people staying then why were there only 4 plates 3 forks, 5 spoons, 1 saucepan, 4 cups etc...

The cooker was thick with grime and burnt on food. My wife and mum arrived a few hours before us with the kids and, after making a complaint and requesting the bed linen that should have been there, tried to clean up aenough to get the kids settled. When we arrived at 11:30pm they had just had the linen delivered by the security guards??? after a second complaint.

I got my head down and tried to sleep through the stench of the place, its difficult to describe but the closest I can get is half-cooked minced beef.

The next day we found that everyone staying there was complaining about the filth. A few more complaints the next day and something was done whilst we were out. They'd left some extra crockery and cutlery. They hadn't hoovered but had left a vacuum cleaner for us so we could do it.

We've taken lots of pictures and the complaints have been sent to Pontins and the EHO.