Pontins Camber Sands and Prestatyn holiday parks closed 'with immediate effect'

The firm, which is owned by Britannia Hotels, placed a statement on its website.

It said: “We regret to inform you that our parks in Prestatyn and Camber Sands will be closing with immediate effect. Customers whose bookings will be affected by these closures will be contacted by our team and refunded. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

The holiday park in New Lydd Road, Camber was built in 1968 and covers 32 acres.

The camp has a long association with Len Goodman, Strictly Come Dancing judge, who organised an annual dance festival there for 25 years starting in the mid-1980s.

In 2013 scenes for the Hollywood movie The Monuments Men were filmed on the nearby beach and the production company booked 85 rooms at the camp.

Stars George Clooney and Matt Damon, who featured in the film, were spotted at the camp on several occasions.

Since the news of the closure of the holiday park, together with the Prestatyn site, was announced yesterday afternoon (Thursday, November 30), there have been rumours circulating on social media saying that the camp is set to be requisitioned by the Government to be turned into a site to accommodate asylum seekers.

But today (Friday, December 1), the Home Office said that was not the case.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We can confirm there are no plans to use the sites as a form of asylum accommodation.”

The Home Office made a similar announcement in February this year after it wrote to East Sussex County Council and Rother District Council (RDC), inform them of its decision not to use the Pontins site in New Lydd Road.

Leaders in East Sussex welcomed the news and said it followed lobbying of Government from all public sector partners in the county, including the site’s freehold owner Rother District Council and Hastings and Rye MP Sally-Ann Hart.

At the time, the county council said partners pointed out the site was unsuitable because of limited access and a lack of the extra public services that would be needed, including healthcare and school places.

Pontins has been approached for a comment.