A LEISURE centre admitted making a mistake after a fee was introduced for babies attending play sessions.

Due to Covid-19 and having a limited amount of space available, the Nova in Prestatyn said it was charging all children attending sessions.

Babies under the age of one were being charged £1. It is understood initially this charge stood at £4.90.

One mum deemed the charge 'unreasonable' and wrote on the Nova's Facebook: "Is there really a charge for a newborn baby who would be sitting on his mother's knee while his sibling played?"

The leisure centre wrote back: "We need to charge all children for the play session as they are taking a space in our play/café area and can be taken in the baby/toddler area. After reviewing our current procedure, we have now reduced our under one price to £1 per session."

It has since issued an apology and termed the 'unacceptable' charge an error.

Jamie Groves, managing director of Denbighshire Leisure Ltd, said: "On behalf of the site, I would like to sincerely apologise to anyone who has had to pay for a baby to attend the session. Like you, I agree it is unacceptable.

"This is not Denbighshire Leisure's agreed charging policy.

"The site will be instructed to issue refund to all customers who have paid, as well as providing free vouchers to attend Nova and other Denbighshire Leisure Ltd attractions to make up for the bad experience, following this mistake."

Anyone who has paid for a baby to attend a play session, should send a direct message to the Nova Facebook page and a refund will be issued.

Mr Groves added: "Please be assured we will be following this up with the site and reviewing the staff training on our charging policies.

"We apologise again. This is not the customer experience you would normally associate with Denbighshire Leisure Ltd.

"The site got this wrong and we will rectify this immediately."

In a further statement to the Journal, Mr Groves added: "This was not Denbighshire Leisure's agreed charging policy.  We will issue a refund to all customers who have paid for under 1s, as well as providing free vouchers to attend Nova and other Denbighshire Leisure Ltd attractions to make up for the bad experience.

"In addition, having reviewed the entire process and taking on board the helpful feedback received, all babies 12 months or under will be free. In line with feedback we have received, we will also lengthen the sessions to two hours from Wednesday, August 26, and adults will be able to accompany their children in the structure if they feel the need to do so – but will be asked to sanitize before entering and exiting the structure.

"These new arrangements will still comply with government guidelines. In addition, because the online systems have been inundated we would advise all bookings for Nova now need to be made over the phone in advance of your visit.

"Once again, we sincerely apologise.

"Denbighshire Leisure Ltd has worked extremely hard across the board to make sure all the facilities comply with the new guidelines and restrictions, and the emphasis has always been focused on making sure the customer has the best possible experience, and overwhelmingly feedback has been really positive. On this occasion, we got it wrong. But hopefully the intervention and the changes we have  introduced will go some way to putting things right."

Annoyed parents took to the Nova Facebook to voice their reaction.

One mum wrote: "I tried to bring my kids here but I wasn't paying for a baby, so the others missed out. Absolutely ludicrous that anyone under three should pay anyway, let alone a baby."

Another mum posted: "This happened to me yesterday and I thought it was totally unacceptable to charge my five-month old baby."

Another person took a different approach: "Good on you four apologising Denbighshire Leisure.

"To be fair humans make mistakes and we living in crazy world at the moment. #bekind."

On bank holiday Monday, the Nova will be opening up play for two hour sessions for residents for free.

Residents can book their slot in advance over the phone before coming. 

Places will be limited.