Chaos for the kids at Ayr holiday park

Jun 12 2009 by Edwin Lawrence

IT was mayhem when licensing councillors did a Saturday night spot check at a holiday park.

“Children were running wild. It was as if every child in the west of Scotland was dumped there,” said Councillor Ann Galbraith.

“It was mayhem. There was no element of control. We were all very concerned at what we saw that Saturday night,” she told South Ayrshire Licensing Board.

“We saw a little girl clutching a doll or a teddy, sitting on steps at a bar area,” said Councillor Ian Douglas.

“She looked tired and abandoned,” he added.

Board chairman Councillor Douglas Campbell said the spot check at Craig Tara holiday park near Ayr occurred around 10 to 10.30pm two weeks earlier.

And what board members saw prompted them to scrutinise the management of the former Butlins camp.

Solicitor Graeme McKinstry, for Craig Tara owners Haven Leisure Ltd, said the business depended on offering ‘safe, secure family holidays’.

Staff training is continuous, he said, and staff are regularly tested on it.

Children are excluded from areas where there are adult gaming machines.

Key staff members are part of the Disclosure Scotland scheme.

And there is an entertainment team who look out for the kids.

Councillor Galbraith said she felt extra staff should have been on duty on the night the board visited.

She conceded there was a football tournament on that weekend, so there were probably more youngsters than average.

But Councillor Galbraith felt the park should have had more people looking after children that evening. The licensing board went into recess to discuss Craig Tara’s applications for drinks licenses for five separate premises.

Chairman Councillor Campbell told holiday park chiefs the board wasn’t trying to give them a hard time.

But because of concerns shared by board members, they had a duty to establish that children were being adequately cared for.

Ultimately, licences were granted for the five premises: the Atlantic Showbar, the Bonga Wonga Beach Club, the Essentials convenience store, the Mash and Barrel pub, and the Turnberry Gardens restaurant.