Sun-starved Brits lay their towels down at resort after staff refuse to release sunloungers until 9AM

This is the photo that shows the desperate battle for sunbathing space at a Spanish holiday resort – with British tourists laying down their towels before any sunloungers have even been put out.

The hilarious photo was taken by Brit Jackie Liff at the Sunconnect Los Delfines in Menorca, with tourists resorting to desperate means in order to secure their spot.

The towels were reportedly laid down after hotel staff became fed up with people securing their sunloungers before breakfast and instead opted to lock them up until 9AM.

Describing the snap, Jackie said: ‘Not having the sunbeds unlocked until 9am means people just leave towels out around the pool to claim their space.’

The battle for sunbed supremacy comes after it was previously claimed that British tourists could be banned from all-inclusive resorts altogether, unless they stop making false food poisoning claims.

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According to travel trade organisation Abta, scammers could even end up in prison either in the UK or abroad.

Travel bosses say they are embarrassed by the huge spike in reports of bogus holiday sickness, which they describe as ‘a British problem’.

Most cases involve all-inclusive resorts as claimants say they only ate at their hotel in a bid to identify it as the cause of their supposed food poisoning.