PONTINS was condemned today after a whistleblower revealed it used an “undesirable guests” list to exclude Gypsies and Travellers.

Britannia Jinky Jersey Ltd, the owner of Pontins, is now working with the Equality & Human Rights Commission to prevent racial discrimination after an employee said the holiday-park company was operating a discriminatory bookings policy.

The commission verified the claims and said practices included a list of Irish surnames published on its intranet page, with staff required to block potential customers with those names from booking.

It said staff monitored calls and refused or cancelled bookings made by people with an Irish accent or surname, and Pontins’ commercial vehicle policy excluded Gypsies and Travellers from its holiday parks.

By declining to provide its services to guests of a certain race or ethnic group, Pontins was “directly discriminating on the basis of race” and breached the 2010 Equality Act, the EHRC said.

Britannia Jinky Jersey said it was working to enhance its staff training and procedures to further promote equality throughout the business.

Downing Street condemned the blacklist as “completely unacceptable.”