Disgruntled British mothers up in arms after Coventry hotel sign declares benches are 'for bums NOT babies'

A group of mothers were left outraged by a sign at a Coventry hotel, which they felt labelled babies as 'a nuisance'.

Notices were posted in the swimming pool changing rooms of the Village Urban Resort, near Hearsall Common over the weekend.

Warning parents to keep the benches in this area clear, the signs said: 'Polite notice: These benches are for bums - not bags or babies! Thank you.'

A flurry of disgruntled mothers then contacted the local newspaper, the Coventry Telegraph to complain about the message, which they saw as 'disgusting'.

Bosses at the hotel maintained that the signs were put up for 'health and safety' reasons and defended their decision to post them.

Stephen Cresswell, regional director at the Village Hotel said: 'If someone has been offended by the sign that has been put up then we, of course, apologise for that. 'But a sign like that would only have been put up from a health and safety perspective to help everyone who uses the club.'

But many of the mothers, who came across the signs while taking their children swimming were distraught at the suggestion of changing their babies on the floor.

One such mother, Toni Bird, who took her four-year-old daughter to the hotel's leisure club on Sunday, told the newspaper: 'I took my daughter swimming and as I was going in I heard people talking about it.

'There is only one fold-down changing table in the female changing rooms and if there are a few people with babies you aren't going to stand around while they get cold, you are going to change them on the bench.

The debate has continued on the Coventry Telegraph's Facebook page, with opinion differing between social media users.

One commenter wrote: 'They cannot expect people to put their babies on the floor unless they provide mats or more changing stations.'

SOURCE