Damp mattresses and broken toilets: blind group's holiday nightmare in Wales

A group of 15 blind and partially-sighted people endured the "holiday from hell" when they stayed at Coleg Harlech's student accommodation in Wales.

The group, who travelled with 10 staff from Teesside and District Society for the Blind, paid £1,500 for their accommodation. Upon arrival, they were shocked to discover damp mattresses, windows jammed open with cutlery, broken toilets, a broken lift and poor lighting.

Gazette Live reports that two members of the group also got locked in their rooms: one of the group's drivers had to struggle with a broken lock to free an 87-year-old blind woman, while another member of the group had to break down a bedroom door to release an 83-year-old woman who had been shut inside for 30 minutes.

The group's manager, Rona Aston, said that the accommodation was described in the brochure as 'basic but clean.'

She said: "Imagine my horror on arrival at finding it to be dirty and broken down. They're very upset."

The Daily Post reports that the group stayed at Plas Amherst for a week at the start of September.

Mrs Aston told the Post: "Coleg Harlech should be ashamed of what they have done - they have given Wales a very bad impression to a lot of people who feel they have been ripped off."

The group took photographs of their accommodation and sent them, along with a letter of complaint, to the college.

As a result, the college has refunded a damage deposit, but the group are now asking for a refund of "a large proportion of the money paid."

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