Chatty toddler's mouth taped up

Jake's parents said he does not want to go on holiday again

The parents of a five-year-old Derby boy are demanding an apology after their son's mouth was taped up to stop him chatting in a holiday kids' club.

Sharon and Dennis Bailey, from Oakwood, left sons Jake and eight-year-old Sam at a Thomson Kid Zone club in Menorca.

When Mrs Bailey collected the boys, they were upset and Sam said one of the reps put sticky tape over his brother's mouth to keep him quiet.

Thomson Holidays said the matter was now with their legal team.

According to Mrs Bailey, Jake does not want to go on holiday again because he was so upset by what happened.

"It is obviously still affecting him because we have booked a holiday at Easter and out of the blue, in the car the other day, he said, 'Mummy, if I go to kids' club, will they put parcel tape on my mouth again', so he obviously still remembers," said Mrs Bailey.

Calls for CCTV

The family has sent several letters to the holiday company asking for better training procedures for staff to prevent further incidents from occurring and CCTV cameras installed in kids' clubs.

Two female reps were suspended at the time, in October 2005, but the Baileys are now calling for their dismissal, as well as compensation for the stress they have suffered.

In a statement, Thomson said: "We pride ourselves on being a family friendly holiday company and have extremely high standards when it comes to child care.

"We recruit children's reps carefully and ensure all staff have a high standard of training."

The company added that they were extremely concerned to hear about the incident and have taken the complaint very seriously.