Mum banned from taking pictures of her son in the pool
It's a perfect family snap – but a couple were stunned to be told by holdiay park staff that they were banned from taking it.
Dawn Norris, 32, took just one snap of her four month old son Wesley and her husband Andrew in the indoor pool of Haven holiday park in Pagham, near Chichester, before a lifeguard told her photos broke the park's privacy rules.
The Norrises were on a four-day break when the incident happened.
Mr Norris, from Dover, was furious that he was not allowed to capture his son's first splash in a swimming pool.
The 45-year-old said: 'It was a hot weekend and I booked it as a last minute surprise for Dawn and Wesley.
'I was in the pool with Wesley in his little rubber ring when I saw the guard go over to Dawn.
'I didn't realise until later what he said and I couldn't believe it.
'I spoke to a solicitor friend who said there was no privacy act covering this sort of situation so I went back to Haven and they said it's their own ruling. It turns out loads of places, not just Haven, have this ruling and it is ridiculous.
'This was the first time we had been away with Wesley and all we wanted was a few photos together in the pool. It was a joke.'
Mr Norris said at one point he saw a mother hiding from the life guard trying to take photos of her son without being seen.
He added: 'I just cannot believe it has come to this. Because of the actions of a few individuals we all have to suffer.'
Tom Cassidy, a spokesman for Haven said they would not consider changing the policy.
He added: 'We sympathise with Mr and Mrs Norris and share the disappointment of parents who are unable to photograph their children's early endeavours in the swimming pool.
'However, like most local authorities and other private swimming pool operators, we have had a policy for a number of years now of prohibiting the use of cameras, videos and camera phones in our pools.
'This is to protect the privacy of other swimmers using the pool. We also do not wish our lifeguards to be distracted from their important job by monitoring photographs being taken in the pool.'
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Friday 25 May 2012
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