Getting up early to rush out to the pool to beat the scramble to reserve sun beds has become a summer holiday ritual for many.
But one British holidaymaker was caught on camera taking things to the next level.
Samantha Cooper was captured visiting the poolside by night, to grab towels off loungers bagged by eager holidaymakers the night before.
Despite hotel rules banning towels being put down before 9am, the mother from Manchester said she and her family struggled to find a spot during their holiday in Cyprus.
And sure enough, the beady-eyed mum discovered exactly why when she spotted fellow tourists sneaking down to reserve beds at 1.30am from her balcony.
Many of the sunbed hoggers actually had no intention of using the loungers until the afternoon, the mother insisted.
Taking matters into her own hands, on the fifth day of her stay, Samantha removed the towels from all the loungers so they would be available the following morning.
‘To be fair, they deserved it’, her 25-year-old daughter Ellie Ikin said.
‘They were never down there until at least 3pm.’
She added: ‘Every morning was a struggle.
‘The hotel said they had rules of no one putting towels down until 9 am, but no one listened.
‘My mum noticed they were putting towels down at 1.30 am from her balcony.
‘We were annoyed because the people who were doing it didn’t sit around the pool until later in the afternoon.
‘I was happy she pulled them off so other people actually got a chance to get a bed when they wanted to sit around the pool in the morning.’
Ellie insisted that her mum’s actions had guaranteed early morning swimmers and sunbathers a bed.
And while there was no drama – the towel owners going back to their old ways the very next day – the bold move made it easier to find a spot by the pool for a while.
She said: ‘It’s selfish.
‘I completely understand the need of getting a bed early, but 1.30 am putting towels out when you have no intentions of being there in the morning is ridiculous.’
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