Mum felt 'utterly violated' after finding note on her son's pram at Butlin's
The disabled mum was left struggling to get back to her apartment with her 10-year-old daughter and son, 4, after someone took the stroller from outside the swimming pool
A disabled mum was left feeling "utterly violated" after her son's pram was stolen during a family trip to Butlin's. The woman, named Sophie, was visiting the Skegness holiday park last month with her two children when she claims someone took the stroller from the trolley area outside the swimming pool.
After struggling to get back to their apartment with her 10-year-old daughter and son, four, she called Butlin's for help but claims she was told to hire one for the rest of her stay, costing £21. After three days, her trolley was found with a post-it note attached saying: "Loaned for 5 min, sorry + thank you."
Sophie, 38, told Manchester Evening News of experience: "It was more the inconvenience of it. I'm disabled, so is my daughter. We came out of swimming carrying a heavy bag of wet clothes and had to phone Butlin's for someone to come and help me because I only made it half way back to the apartment.
"My daughter, was overly distressed by the situation. We had to hire another one. They wouldn't even look at the CCTV."
Single mum Sophie, from Derbyshire, said she suggested a ticket system be used for picking up the prams to avoid any being taken, but claims the company "aren't interested".
"Three days after it went it was thrown over the swimming pool fence into the external pram park with a note saying it had been borrowed for five minutes," she said.
"A friend of mine found it and when we went to pick it up, we heard on the walkie talkies that another pram had just gone, it happens all the time."
The mum said she "wasn't even that happy to have it back" after someone else had been using it.
"I felt utterly violated," she said. "My little boy's pram had been in someone else's apartment and they had been using it. I felt so scummy using it."
Sophie, who was at the holiday park in mid May, shared a post about the incident on a Butlin's Skegness Resort Facebook page where parents shared their disbelief over someone walking off with another family's trolley.
"Scum, it's about time Butlin's had CCTV or even security in buggy areas," said one.
"How on earth can someone actually think that's ok to do that," said another, with a third adding: "The question is whoever has borrowed it, why have they gone away without a pram if they need one. Very entitled behaviour and I'd be fuming."
The Mirror has approached Butlins for a comment.