Guests stranded at Butlin’s after resort floods with ‘dirty water’ during storm
Holidaymakers have been stranded at a Somerset Butlin’s after a storm left the resort flooded with ‘dirty water’.
The guests were unable to leave the resort at Minehead because a number of roads were shut after being hit by the heavy rain across the south-west of England yesterday.
Much of the site has been forced to close from today until the end of Thursday, including the pool, buffet restaurant, Centre Stage and some of the accommodation units.
One person stuck at the Butlin’s shared video footage with Somerset Live, showing the extent of the flooding.
Around two inches of water can be seen outside a room, while the floor inside appears soaked.
Clips posted on Facebook, meanwhile, show a man showering outside his cabin and a woman swimming in a pool near her accommodation.
The person who shared the footage with the news site, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: ‘We are currently still on the resort staying in a flooded room which had two inches of dirty waste rainwater.
‘Totally understandable that no one can control the weather but we had another night stay at the resort.
‘It was not possible to leave the resort due to the extreme weather conditions with the roads closed and public transport cancelled.’
The person who posted the Facebook footage, meanwhile, said affected guests had been told they can rebook their stay, with the offer of a £25 voucher, but many were angry to learn they would have to cover the difference if their new dates were more expensive.
Writing on Butlin’s Facebook page, however, customer Suzy Andrews said the company should be ‘incredibly proud of the staff this weekend’.
She wrote: ‘You can tell that there are a lot of exhausted people working but they’re pushing forward with what they can.
‘The rain was absolutely ridiculous, yeah, we should be used to it, but that amount of rain in such a short space of time is going to cause damage.
‘Our friends have had to leave a day early because they were flooded out, and it’s a shame but it is what it is, they can’t move people into accommodation they don’t have. Good luck with the clean up, and thank you for such a great weekend.’
In a statement, Butlin’s said: ‘We’ve seen an exceptional amount of rainfall at our Minehead resort today, resulting in a number of our venues (including our pool, buffet restaurants and Centre Stage), as well as accommodation units closing.
‘The team have been working hard to clear the affected areas, however, we’re unable to give you the full Butlin’s experience you’d expect from us, therefore we have made the difficult decision to close resort from Monday, 18th – Thursday, 21st September.
‘We understand how disappointing this will be for you and your family, we haven’t taken this decision lightly and we are very sorry.’
The resort said people affected can visit the website for their options. This would include a full refund or moving the stay to another date.
It added: ‘Please note, that if the cost of your chosen break is cheaper, we’ll refund the difference. If it’s more expensive, you’d pay the difference.
‘We anticipate our phone lines will be very busy so please do bear with us. There’s no rush to fill in the form, so please don’t worry. If you choose a refund option, please do not call. This will be processed automatically.’
Severe weather warnings were in place for much of the West Country on Sunday, including Devon.
Exeter Airport was also hit by flooding and forced to close yesterday. Several flights were cancelled before it opened again today.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.