‘WE COULD HAVE CAUGHT COVID-19 AT PACKED OUT PLAY CENTRE’
MUM ‘APPALLED’ BY ‘OVERCROWDING’ AT
A HULL mum fears her children could have caught coronavirus due to “overcrowding” at an East Yorkshire play centre.
Kayleigh, who wanted to include only her first name, said she was left “appalled” after visiting William’s Den, in Wold Hill, near North Cave, yesterday morning.
The play centre said it takes visitor safety “extremely seriously” and that it fully complies with all government guidelines.
But the mum, who had booked a 90-minute slot from 10.30am on with her five-year-old, her sister and her two children, aged five and two, was unhappy with the centre’s protocols.
“I booked thinking it would be reduced numbers. How wrong I was,” said the 35-year-old mum.
“We left due to the sheer amount of people. I have literally paid £42 to catch Covid.”
She said there were dozens of visitors in the indoor play centre and that the one-way system was not in place because the exit door was out of service.
She said her group left 40 minutes into their session over fears about the lack of social distancing.
“No social distancing could be adhered to due to the amount of people,” she said.
“It states upon walking in to adhere to the rule of six, but that is impossible. It’s like they have sentenced people to catch Covid.
“Kids and adults are mingling with each other, there was not enough seating for adults. I’m absolutely appalled.”
She said she had tried to speak with staff over concerns but that they were “too busy”.
She said she had subsequently tried to contact the company over Facebook, but had not heard back.
A spokesman for William’s Den said they had responded to her but had not been able to get hold of her.
He added: “In relation to Covid-19, we have fully complied with all government guidelines.
“Before opening again after lockdown we undertook comprehensive risk assessments and these are constantly under review.
“Part of this is to limit the capacity throughout William’s Den and this has been done to ensure we are well within current capacity guidelines. “We are able to control numbers at William’s Den by operating a pre-booking only system.
“This enables all our visitors on the day to have a specific slot within the Indoor Den, should they so wish, and to avoid overcrowding while complying with capacity guidelines.
“Before entering the Indoor Den we ask that all visitors wash their hands – and do so again after each play session. We e also provide hand sanitisation sta- tions throughout.
“We ask that face coverings are worn at all times when inside, and request that social distancing is s adhered to.
“A deep clean of the Indoor r Den occurs daily before and after r opening each day. We then clean n touch points during each play y session, and also allow 30 minutes s between sessions for more cleaning.
“The Indoor Den is an unheated d space, with all doors left open n to allow natural air flow from outside. There is no heating within the Indoor Den and no air is recirculated, hence reducing risk significantly.
“Adults are actively encouraged to play with their children, and to
We left due to the sheer amount of people. I have literally paid £42 to catch Covid
help with social distancing. All equipment is designed with adults in mind, too.
“Since reopening in July we have had three visits from members of East Riding Council.
“The last was as recently as yesterday (October 27), which was an unannounced spot check.
“The council representative was shown around the premises by our operations manager and we were given the ‘thumbs up’ for complying fully with all guidelines.”
Mum Kayleigh