Caravan site rejects holidaymaker with caravan popular with travellers

Businessman Thomas Newby was hoping to stay with his family at Otterington Park caravan site, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, this weekend.

However, when his wife, Nicola, rang to book, she was told they were not welcome because the family had a Hobby caravan.

The woman who answered the phone admitted it was because of the make's association with the travelling community. Mr Newby, 31, said: "I am frankly disgusted by her attitude and clearly discriminatory behaviour.

"We are not travellers, though that is beside the point.

"To discriminate against a family because of the manufacturer of caravan they choose to buy is unbelievable."

Mr Newby's company The Phoenix Works, which installs solar panels, is exhibiting at this weekend's North Yorkshire County Show at nearby Otterington Hall.

He said: "It was our intention to stay Friday and Saturday night so we would be relaxed ahead of the show on Sunday.

"We've not been able to find any other accommodation in the area so we will not just have to travel up that morning."

In response to the complaint, Otterington Park owner Carol Bowe said the site was privately owned.

She added: "We can take who we want and refuse who we want.

"A lot of caravan parks don't take Hobby caravans because of the association with Gypsies.

"We've had Gypsies in Hobby caravans before and we ended up having the police here.

"You get one Hobby caravan and you get more."

German company Hobby is Europe's biggest caravan manufacturer.

Richard Thomspon, managing director of Hobby Caravans and Motorhomes UK Ltd, which imports the caravans into Britain, said that the vast majority of Hobby caravans were sold to the general public for recreational use.

He added that some of the company's models were also popular with the travelling community because they were bigger than UK-built caravans.

Mr Thompson said it was rare, but not unheard of, for sites to refuse to admit Hobby caravans.