A group of guests trashed a campsite and left poo in the showers at a theme park resort, according to horrified families.
Reviews left by customers on Tripadvisor claimed anti-social behaviour at Flamingo Land in Kirby Misperton, i n North Yorkshire, over the bank holiday weekends in April and May had even left one four-year-old child with a black eye.
According to several one and two star reviews, visitors were greeted by ‘chaos’ as staff reportedly were unable to control the disruptive guests. Reviewers claim they received abuse from the group who used ‘vile language’ and left the site strewn with smashed glass and dog muck.
Reviewers reportedly said that the campsite was ‘lawless’ at night and one wrote: “If you want a family friendly place, this is not the place to go.”
Flamingo Land customer service team responded to complaints by apologising and saying their security team had worked 'tirelessly' across the site, with offenders being 'removed' from the site, reports the Manchester Evening News.
One visitor, who wished to remain anonymous, took his wife and two children to the caravan park for Easter bank holiday weekend in the hopes of a relaxing break, but quickly found that a few days of peace and quiet would not be on the cards.
The dad, whose children are aged seven months and six years old, said: "We got to the site, took a spot out of the way and set the caravan up. Within half an hour I knew we weren't going to have a relaxing stay. There were kids flying around on electric scooters and booting balls around, but it was the language that you heard from them as well.”
The father of two from North Yorkshire said that while the daytime antics of the children made it difficult to relax, once the evening drew in things got much worse.
He added: "Me and the missus are in our 30s, we're not boring people. We'll have a drink and listen to some music, but as an adult there comes a time when that has to stop, because there's other people around you. It just went on all the way through the night.
"About half one in the morning the kids were driving around, blasting the car horn and shouting 'Caravanners, wake up!' Then the adults were blaring music and swearing, and as they got more drunk they sounded more aggressive. It was one of those situations where you don't want to confront them because it'll make things worse.”
The family decided to leave a day early as they felt it was “unsafe for the children”. He believed that the theme park itself was managed well enough, but he said that Flamingo Land had ‘lost control’ of the camping and caravan site.
He said: "I think the security they had on wouldn't dare say anything. They were only young lads, and they'd probably have got that much grief for it that they thought, 'Is this worth getting a right hook for?'
"They did have a little security cabin there but I only saw them once or twice. If I was them I probably wouldn't want to go over and say something to them either.”
Another Tripadvisor reviewer, who had also stayed at Flamingo Land over Easter bank holiday, said that they had saved 'most of the year' for the trip to take their family of five. The reviewer wrote: "My son age four was left with a black eye all because they stole his ball and we asked for it back.
"They smashed the campsite tap off, they took a poo on the shower's floor, they pushed in front of the queue for rides, the kids' language was vile and the parents didn't give a damn. The campsite was just left in a disgrace."
The Flamingo Land customer service team later responded to the negative Tripadvisor reviews and said: "I am sorry that a small number of guests had such a negative effect on your stay at Flamingo Land. Our security teams were working tirelessly across the resort to respond to the issues you raise, throughout the weekend, with offenders being removed from site."
North Yorkshire Police said it had received no reports of anti-social behaviour at Flamingo Land on Easter Bank Holiday or over May bank holiday.
Flamingo Land park executive Ross Snipp said: "Our Customer Service team have responded to each of those guests addressing their concerns. We therefore have no further comments to make."
