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SOUTHPORT Pontins Holiday Park has been closed by Britannia Hotels, with immediate effect. This permanent closure comes following Storm Henk, which had reportedly flooded the site making it "unviable."

Britannia isn't known for its open approach, but we have attempted to contact Britannia Hotels for additional comment and further information.

Pontins on its website has said:- "It is with great sadness that we announce the closure of Pontins Southport Holiday Park. After assessing the future viability of the park, we have come to the difficult decision to close our doors. Unfortunately, this means that Pontins Southport Holiday Park will be closed from:- Wednesday, 3 January 2024. We apologize for any inconvenience caused."

Damien Moore MP confirms the permanent closure of Pontins Ainsdale

Local Member of Parliament for Southport, Damien Moore, confirms the permanent closure of Pontins Southport; a subsidiary of Britannia Hotels Limited. This decision has been made due to the failure of the site to pass an internal commercial viability assessment. The assessment found that the site suffered flood damage caused by Storm Henk, making the site commercially unviable. This marks the third closure of a Pontin's facility since September 2023. The other two sites that were closed are located in Prestatyn and Camber Sands. As a result, Pontin's commercial footprint has been reduced from 30 to only 3 sites. The closure of Pontin's Southport represents a renewed opportunity for investment and redevelopment across Ainsdale, including the provision of high quality tourist accommodation, upgrading road and pedestrian infrastructure, and coastal biodiversity protection, benefitting our wider Ainsdale community.

In 2023 the owners of Pontins Group, out of the blue, said it was closing its:- Prestatyn and Camber Sands locations with:- "immediate effect" putting staff at other locations at risk.

Owners Britannia have been criticized for their failure to invest in its sites including the site in Ainsdale over the last few years. Online, this location has also struggled with its identity, being tagged often as having:- "very little activities for kids everything was closed," and also "needing urgent renovation" amongst other criticisms. This was also often reflected in online reviews on sites like Tripadvisor that gave the location a rating of:- 2 of 5 in 2023...

Also, Pontins, Southport (Ainsdale), has had several major PR issues over 2023, with the repeated speculation that the site was under consideration to house migrants by the Home Office, that was met with several denials.

The local Member of Parliament for Southport added:- "Whilst the closure of Pontins is concerning for the staff who I’m sure will be shocked, it provides a fantastic opportunity for a high quality holiday accommodation provider to take over the site. Given its excellent location next to Ainsdale beach, and with suitable investment, it could offer a substantial economic boost to Ainsdale and the wider Southport area."

The worry is that this is a prime site near the coastline, along with its strategic location between:- Liverpool and Southport, so we might lose what is an important tourism business opportunity to housing. But, stopping this might be the fact that this area could become at risk from flooding, due to climate change. Plus any housing developments on the site would also be risk Sefton Coast Special Area of Conservation.

Sefton Council, which we are told is the landowner of the Southport site, has repeatedly said they had not been informed about the closure.

The unexpected announcement has shocked the local area and will be yet another major blow to the area's job market.

Commenting, the local Member of Parliament Damien Moore added:-“Whilst the closure of Pontins is concerning for the staff who I’m sure will be shocked, it provides a fantastic opportunity for a high quality holiday accommodation provider to take over the site."

Please do let us know if you have been affected by the sudden closure and also if you have any thoughts on the closure. Please put your comments below or email our Newsroom at:- News24@SouthportReporter.Com, alternatively send us a message on:- Mastodon, Facebook, or Twitter.

If you are unaware of the site's location, the site is located on Shore Road Ainsdale Beach, Southport, Merseyside, PR82PZ, England