By Abe Hawken For Mailonline
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Sarah Parker-Khan (pictured) booked 19 rooms at a Premier Inn in Weston-super-Mare
Hotel chain Premier Inn has denied turning away two homeless people after a mother-of-five offered them rooms she had paid for.
Sarah Parker-Khan, 38, booked the rooms at a Premier Inn in Weston-super-Mare but was unable to travel after the south west was hit by Storm Emma.
She said staff at the hotel would not refund her £2,976 booking so she decided to offer them to local people who were living on the streets during sub-zero temperatures.
But Mrs Parker-Khan, who was due to attend a gathering with members from Newton Abbot Young Farmers, was furious when two homeless people were allegedly refused entry.
A local charity has claimed that the two homeless people ended up going to the wrong Premier Inn in the town and that they were turned away because they did not have ID.
Mrs Parker-Khan told MailOnline: ‘Because of the heavy snowfall we had no physical way of getting to Weston-super-Mare but Premier Inn refused to refund our booking.
‘We then decided to do something positive and I contacted a number of local charity groups in Weston-super-Mare.
‘I told them we had 19 rooms available and it would be good to get homeless people out of the freezing conditions.
‘One homeless charity told me they were at crisis point because of the freezing temperatures.
‘We were willing to be guarantors and responsible for the room and I was told people needed to bring two utility bills with them.
‘But homeless people are not going to have that kind of identification and when they arrived they were turned away.’
Mrs Parker-Khan was told by the Premier Inn in Weston-super-Mare that they could not refund her booking
She was due to travel with members of the Newton Abbot Young Farmers (pictured) for a gathering
Jon Codd, the chairman of one of the local charities, Comfort and Warmth, said he sent two rough sleepers down to the hotel at 7pm on Saturday night.
But he told MailOnline that the two homeless people went to the wrong hotel after getting the Premier Inn location mixed up.
Mrs Parker-Khan had booked the rooms at Premier Inn East, while the homeless people ended up at the Premier Inn on the seafront.
Mr Codd said: ‘We sent a couple of people down there with the booking number and the name of the person who made the booking.
‘The two homeless people went to the Premier Inn on the seafront, which was the wrong hotel as the booking was at the one on the outskirts of the town.’
He added that the pair were not allowed to stay because they did not have ID with them.
Another homeless charity, Wormwood Rocks, said: ‘In our little home town of Weston super Mare, we have witnessed many acts of kindness from many people and groups. To all these people, thank you, you all truly rock.
‘One such person contacted one of our homeless groups today to inform them that due to weather conditions their party would not be able to travel to Weston today.
‘As a result of this they had 19 rooms including breakfast for two days available for free at The Premier Inn, Weston-super-Mare.
‘This was due to the fact that the Premier Inn would not refund anything from their booking.
Wormwood Rocks posted on their Facebook page to inform people that the two homeless people were turned away
‘However such a generous and thoughtful act could not go to waste.
‘One of the local groups, Comfort and Warmth, sent two of their homeless down to the hotel.
But Premier Inn has denied the claims and said they need the names of everyone staying in their rooms for legal reasons.
A spokeswoman told MailOnline: ‘Reports that homeless people were turned away from one of our hotels in Weston super-Mare are simply untrue and extensive checking of CCTV footage bears this out.
‘For legal, as well as obvious guest safety and security reasons, we need the names of everybody staying in our hotels and the lead booker must be accountable for all guests.
‘We spoke to the guest involved and informed her of this both on Friday morning, and again that evening but she failed to supply any guest names or details as we requested.
‘We are a business that works extensively with all disadvantaged groups with a track record of getting homeless people off the streets and back into work so we’re very disappointed that vulnerable people feel let down through absolutely no fault of their own.
‘We will be reaching out to the two homelessness organisations involved.’
An article on 5 March reported claims of a homeless charity that staff at a Premier Inn in Weston-super-Mare had turned away a group of homeless people – who had been offered rooms by a Good Samaritan – because they did not have the correct ID.
It reported that Premier Inn denied the claims. In fact, the allegation from the homeless charity was that just two homeless people sought to take advantage of the offer, but they were turned away because they did not have the correct ID, although they had attended the wrong Premier Inn.
Premier Inn continues to deny the claims that any homeless people attempted to check in to any of their branches in Weston-super-Mare on the night in question.
This correction has been published after IPSO upheld a complaint from Premier Inn about the article.
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