Rally over holiday park closure

Tesco said 250 jobs would be created

Residents of a seaside town in Devon have organised a protest rally over the planned closure of a holiday village.

More than 150 staff at the Lyme Bay Leisure Resort in Seaton were told last week the 10-acre facility is to shut down next January.

Tesco plans to build a supermarket complex which it said would bring about 250 jobs to the town.

But locals said the camp provided 90% of the town's tourist accommodation, as well as the only pool, gym and nursery.

Stand Up 4 Seaton spokeswoman Lizzie Bewsher said the rally would be held on Saturday outside the holiday village, which was built more than 70 years ago.

Those who were pinning their hopes of future prosperity for Seaton on the holiday village were living on borrowed time East Devon District Council

"It is not for the benefit of the people of Seaton, it is not regeneration - it is redevelopment, which is a completely different thing," she said.

Tesco said there would be consultations before plans were drawn up and submitted for the 26-acre development site.

When it bought the land last year, it was tied into a regeneration project involving a supermarket, shops and possible housing or holiday accommodation.

A company spokesman said suggestions it was responsible for the closure of the holiday village were misleading.

"East Devon District Council (EDDC) has been warning since 2006 that closure of the site was on the cards and that hotel operators are not interested in the town," he said.

'High-quality attractions'

A spokesman for EDDC said the news of the impending closure of the holiday village was "not entirely unexpected".

"Those who were pinning their hopes of future prosperity for Seaton on the holiday village were living on borrowed time.

"They should be looking also at another set of customers - day visitors who are attracted by high-quality visitor attractions and are likely to spend more money in the town itself."

Hollybush Hotels, which sold the site to Tesco, said holiday village staff had been fully briefed and a consultation process had begun.