Bookings at Haven holiday parks across the country are up this year, but families have been unable to reserve a space at one of the firm’s popular sites after it was block booked for two months – by police officers.
From July 7th, the Haven Seaview in Weymouth, Dorset, will be home to as many as 500 police for a two-month period over the Olympics.
With thousands of police being ferried to the south to take up their Olympic duty, the family campsite has been chosen as a destination to house some of them.
The sailing events at the London 2012 games are due to be held at in Weymouth, with the recently-built Portland National Sailing Academy set to host them.
Typically costing upwards of £1,500 for a fortnight in a static caravan, the police officers will be paid to share the six to eight-berth caravans.
For every night each officer spends in one of the site’s caravans they will receive £80 in allowances – £50 in expenses paid to cover the cost of living away from home, and a further £30 to cover the ‘hardship’ of sharing a bathroom with other officers.
All officers staying in the caravan park are being given a course in ‘integrity and professional standards’ before heading to the site.
Commenting on the use of the holiday site, a Dorset Police spokesperson said: “We will use the site in the most cost-effective way, with officers sharing caravans where appropriate and offering overnight accommodation where it will reduce costs.”
Earlier this month, Haven revealed that despite the poor weather and economic downturn, bookings for the summer holiday period were 26 per cent ahead of where they were last year.
Overall, holiday bookings are up 15 per cent, while the company saw breaks over the Jubilee weekend rise 12 per cent compared to the same period in 2011.
