On July 14, the UK tabloid newspaper The Sun published an article describing a British couple's unpleasant experience in Royal Park Hotel in the Bulgarian Black Sea resort of Elenite.

According to The Sun, the couple caught a waiter and a cleaner having sex in its room. The newspaper quoted the man, identified as 39-year-old Ricky Dearn, as saying: “They just rushed out giggling – holding their clothes.”

Dearn was on a vacation with his wife and three kids. In addition to the unpleasant experience in their room, the family also suffered severe food poisoning, The Sun said. “The Brits also complained of strip shows in the bar, erotic photoshoots on the beach, rude staff, poor hygiene, loss of air conditioning and power cuts. They plan to sue the hotel and travel firm First Choice," the tabloid said.

According to the Press Association, the 14-year-old son of Dearn’s girlfriend caught the staff red-handed and Dearn was aged 29. The news agency quoted the travel agency as saying that the behaviour was “unacceptable” and “both employees were dismissed for gross misconduct”.

On the evening of July 14, BBC confirmed the version that Dearn was 29 years old. “When he checked on what his son had told him, he found two staff members scurrying along a corridor,” BBC said.

Dearn had spent nearly 3000 British pounds on the trip, but “the entertainment was pretty much non-existent, the food was shocking and then to top it off the second night we were there the eldest lad found a couple of workers having sex in his room”.

“The holiday was also dogged by illness, with the family suffering stomach upsets and he and his girlfriend suffering viral infections,” BBC said.

A First Choice spokeswoman confirmed that there was an outbreak of illness at the resort. The agency quoted her as saying that “as soon as our resort staff was made aware of the bout of sickness, they advised the hotel to implement POSI (Prevention of Spread of Illness) procedures and have taken the additional step of sending an independent UK-qualified hygiene consultant to carry out an inspection of the property. […] First Choice is currently carrying out a detailed investigation into the sickness outbreak to locate the cause. […] First Choice was also very upset to learn of the unacceptable behaviour demonstrated by two employees of the Royal Park Hotel in Bulgaria and would like to apologise to the Dearn family. As soon as the issue was reported to the hotelier, both employees were dismissed.”

The Sofia Echo has been trying to contact the Royal Park Hotel for comment since July 14, but the telephone of the hotel has had a busy tone every time.