A mum has said she was left in tears after her family were told to sit separately on their Haven holiday in Gwynedd.

Emma Williams, from Telford, went to Haven Greenacres in Porthmadog last weekend with her husband Dave and their five children, as reported by WalesOnline earlier.

The trip to the holiday park in Gwynedd came following a stressful year for the couple, with both having lost their respective businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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The couple checked Welsh Government guidance before their visit and were confident that all seven of the family could do things together in Wales, including one-year-old daughter Charlotte, their youngest.

The family successfully booked the holiday with the company knowing that they were a group of seven.

After arriving last Friday, they went to get food at the Mash and Barrel restaurant at the park - but were told they would need two tables because there were seven of them - despite it not breaking Welsh Government guidance for hospitality venues.

Emma commented: "My daughter is one-and-a-half and usually sits on our lap and they wouldn't allow us to do that. My kids were so hungry I just accepted it."

The frustrated parent later visited reception to question why they couldn't sit together and said she was told that Haven's policy allowed only six people to sit together.

The family later went to the Live Lounge, the holiday park's entertainment show, as the children had been looking forward to it. Emma said they were once again told that they had to be put on two separate tables though.

She explained recently: "They sat us on two tables that were so far apart from each other. It was horrible. Especially as my children are really young. I wanted to experience this with the kids and I couldn't."

Emma Williams sat with two of her children at the table during their holiday

The mum-of-seven said she sat at the table and cried over how bad the experience was for the family. She commented: "This was not how I envisioned our holiday."

That evening Emma returned to reception. She said: "Their excuse was that my one-year-old would be breaking social distancing rules. How can a one-and-a-half-year-old be breaking rules?"

Emma has said she tried to show the government guidance to Haven staff, but said that every time the family tried to complain, they were brushed aside.

Official guidance states that there are no restrictions on gathering with members of your own household indoors.

Even when mixing with other households, children under 11 aren't included in limits and wider restrictions.

Amid her disappointment over the holiday park's policy, Emma made a TikTok video that evening airing her frustration to her 340,000 followers on the platform.

In the video, she expressed her disappointment and said that she had "cried" because of the situation, adding that the policy had "completely ruined" the family's holiday.

She explained in a clip: "We weren't allowed to sit together [...] because apparently they're counting children in the rule of six - even though on the Wales Government website it says that children under the age of 11 do not count. [All] of my children are under the age of 11."

It's understood that the situation was resolved following the release of the video. Emma said: "This is when things changed and I was really quite happy because I was contacted by a manager from another site and she said it was out of order.

"She emailed the Greenacres manager and the Saturday I chatted to the manager and we were able to book a table for all of us."

The family were then able to enjoy the rest of their holiday but Emma is confused as to how they were able to change their policy as soon as she complained on social media.

She said her daughter Amelia, seven, cried during the trip as she didn’t understand why they couldn’t sit together. Emma said: "I do feel there is a lot of judgement around having a big family and I did feel discriminated against."

Emma says she has tried to contact Haven to complain but hasn’t received an apology.

A spokesperson for Haven told WalesOnline: "Since the start of the pandemic we have introduced a number of new procedures to help keep our guests feel safe and secure whilst on our parks.

"We're not aware of the exact details of this issue and we apologise if we made a mistake in terms of seating arrangements for the family."

The spokesperson continued: "We have sent a communication to all Welsh parks to remind them of the rule of six and how it applies in hospitality areas.

"We are aware that the guest has made a complaint and this will be addressed through the normal channels."

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