A BORDERS guest house has received an apology from Booking.com after originally being warned of a fine if the guest house rejected people from an English coronavirus hotspot.

Steve and Lisa Davies, owners of Caddon View in Innerleithen, got a booking from a Sheffield couple two days before South Yorkshire was to go into the strictest level of England’s local lockdown system.

Alarmed by the potential health risk, Mr and Mrs Davies tried to get the booking cancelled – but booking agent Booking.com initially refused to help.

In an interview with the Border Telegraph, Mr Davies, 59, said he felt "utterly powerless" and that people who were "not doing the right thing" were being prioritised over a small business "trying to do the right thing".

He added: "We're not being difficult, we're just trying to look after people."

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According to UK Government data, Sheffield’s rate of new cases was 367.9 per 100,000 population between October 12-18.

A hotspot is defined by Imperial College London researchers as a council area with a rate of more than 50 new cases per 100,000 per week.

The rate in the Borders, between October 17-13, was 30.3 cases.

Mr Davies told the Border Telegraph he had spent 25 minutes on the phone with Booking.com on Thursday (October 22), appealing for the booking to be cancelled.

But Mr Davies said he found himself “going around in circles” and resorted to sending links to the booking agent to explain that Sheffield was going into ‘Tier 3’ of lockdown from 12.01am on Saturday (October 24).

Even then, Mr Davies said he was informed that he would be charged if alternative accommodation had to be found for the Sheffield couple.

Border Telegraph:

Under Tier 3, people are banned from meeting other households indoors, with pubs having to shut unless they sell ‘substantial meals’. People are advised against travel outside a Tier 3 area, unless for work or caring responsibilities.

Eventually, Booking.com apologised to Mr Davies and cancelled the reservation.

Mr Davies told the Border Telegraph his business only received the booking on Wednesday evening, and when he spoke with one of the guests over the phone, the person was “blatant” about knowingly trying to avoid lockdown.

Mr Davies said the prospective guest revealed the couple had no intention of spending their holiday in the Borders, but that they were "escaping lockdown" before travelling "further north" for the rest of their break.

"It's utterly cavalier to come here," Mr Davies said.

A spokesperson for Booking.com said: "At Booking.com, the health and safety of our customers and partners is of the utmost concern.

"We are continuing to monitor the COVID-19 situation worldwide, including newly imposed local restrictions, so we can help support those impacted in the best possible way.

"We have apologised to this partner for any confusion caused, and have confirmed that they will not be charged for booking in question, which has now been cancelled."