Butlin's and Haven Holidays extend temporary closure - Three resorts in Sussex affected

Butlin's had initially closed all of its resorts, including in Bognor Regis, from March 20 until April 16, before later announcing that they would be closed until May 14. However, in a statement on social media on Monday, Butlin's said it has taken the decision to extend the closure until June 7. Meanwhile, Haven Holidays, which has resorts across the country including two in Sussex — Church Farm in Pagham and Combe Haven in Hastings — has extended its period of closure until May 31. Like Butlin's, Haven previously announced it would be closed until May 14. A spokesperson for Haven said: "We appreciate this decision will be disappointing for those guests who are booked to stay with us during this time but every decision we make, we do so to ensure the health and wellbeing of the nation and the safety and security of our guests, owners and teams are our number one priority. "We are conscious that this will have an impact on a huge amount of British families, and we are currently contacting all guests affected by the closure and the options that will be available to them. "We would like to thank our guests for their patience and continued understanding whilst we work through this as quickly as we can. We will continue to provide guest with information via our website and social media channels. "We would like to apologise to everyone for this disruption and thank our guests, owners and teams for their continued support. We look forward to welcoming our wider Haven family back to enjoy a coastal break that we pride ourselves on." On Twitter, Butlin's said its contact centre team 'are on hand ready to help re-plan your break' and have 'already processed thousands of requests' from home. The statement read: "In line with current Government advice, we’ve taken the decision to extend the closure of our resorts until June 7. "This will include our May half term breaks, which we know will be disappointing, but these are unprecedented times for everyone. We’ll get through this and back to providing great breaks for you all when the time is right. "If your break has been affected, you will receive an email, SMS or letter from us asking you to fill in a form. Please note, we will respond to everyone. "We are working through in date order and please don’t worry if your break is coming up soon or your arrival date passes and you haven’t heard from us, all of your options remain open to you. "We’re really pleased so many of you have chosen to move your dates to later this year or next – we look forward to welcoming you back to Butlin’s soon." A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton: In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers. With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers. Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis. Stay safe, and best wishes.