A leading charity has described Pontins’ apology to Irish Travellers over discrimination as “later than expected” but “encouraging”.

The holiday park operator offered the apology on Monday after an investigation found practices aimed at barring Irish Travellers from its sites.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) served the holiday park operator with an unlawful act notice in February for engaging in what the watchdog described as “shocking overt race discrimination” towards Irish Travellers.

Although later than expected, it is encouraging to see Pontins taking the first step to redress the harm inflicted on Gypsy and Traveller communities

The apology is the first stage in the company’s one-year action plan, which has been launched with the EHRC to tackle discriminatory practices.

Friends, Families and Travellers, a leading national charity which works to end racism and discrimination against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people, welcomed the apology but admitted it was “later than expected”.

A spokesperson for the organisation said: “Although later than expected, it is encouraging to see Pontins taking the first step to redress the harm inflicted on Gypsy and Traveller communities.

“As part of a wider net of institutions where rate hate is normalised, we hope others take stock of Pontins being held to account and uproot their own discriminatory practices in turn.

“We have not heard from the holiday park operator about the prospect of training with us yet, as laid out in their action plan, but look forward to entering conversations. There’s a real opportunity to invest in tangible change, and it’s vital it’s not missed.”

The EHRC investigation, which was published earlier this year, found Pontins had been involved in 11 unlawful acts and uncovered “company systems and practices” aimed at barring Irish Travellers from its holiday parks between 2013 and 2018.

Breaches of the Equality Act included creating a list of common Irish surnames labelled as “undesirable guests”.

On behalf of the owners, directors, senior managers and all of us here at Pontins, we would like to reiterate our apologies regarding the serious issues raised by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in their report

The commission said staff were instructed to decline or cancel bookings made under those names, and that call centre staff were told to listen for Irish accents to identify Travellers and decline or cancel their bookings.

A “banned guest” list was also found to be in place, containing people Pontins suspected of being Irish Travellers and their associates such as family or friends.

Pontins, owned by Britannia Jinky Jersey Limited, also brought in rules requiring guests to appear on the electoral register, which the commission said was a discriminatory practice against gypsies and travellers, who are less likely to be on the register.

A spokesperson for the company said on Monday that it would like to “reiterate our apologies” and admitted its refusal to allow guests to stay at its parks “was clearly wrong”.

The statement said: “On behalf of the owners, directors, senior managers and all of us here at Pontins, we would like to reiterate our apologies regarding the serious issues raised by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in their report.

We deeply regret any distress caused, particularly to members of the Traveller and Gypsy communities who have been directly affected

“In particular we want to apologise directly to the Traveller and Gypsy community.

“The refusal to allow guests to stay at our parks, because we suspected they were Irish Travellers, was clearly wrong.

“We accept the serious nature of the issues raised in the report.

“We deeply regret any distress caused, particularly to members of the traveller and gypsy communities who have been directly affected.

“Working with the Equality and Human Rights Commission we are fully committed to ensuring ongoing compliance with the Equality Act 2010, implementing a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination of all forms and to fostering an inclusive and welcoming environment for all of our guests.

“We have reviewed the points raised by the EHRC and have developed and entered into a one-year action plan, that will be monitored by the EHRC, to ensure ongoing compliance with the Equality Act 2010.”