Two holidaymakers were left ‘humiliated’ and ‘disgusted’ after being told their burkini swimwear was ‘not acceptable for the pool’.

Maryya Dean and her sister-in-law Hina claim they were told they could not wear their burkinis – a modest swimsuit covering the whole body except the face, hands and feet – at the swimming pool while on holiday in Albufeira, Portugal.

She said her family was also outraged after a maintenance worker at the pool allegedly made her nine-year-old daughter stand up to provide an example of what they should be wearing.

Maryya, 36, from Chessington, likened her return back to the apartment after the incident to a “walk of shame”.

She was on holiday with her four children, her sister-in-law Hina, and other relatives, when they were by the building security manager challenged her on July 21.

The family had booked a private apartment which had a pool shared with other flats in the complex. A neighbour had reportedly complained that she was not wearing a bikini and so it was “not appropriate” for her to be in the pool.

The security manager told Maryya’s nine-year-old daughter to stand up out of the pool to show what was acceptable swimwear, it is claimed.

The man then told Maryya that Portuguese people wore bikinis, and that they should too.

"We were embarrassed as we came out of the pool with four children and people were watching us like we'd committed a crime,” she told the Mirror Online.

“I was not allowed to wear swimming gear that I am comfortable in and that was actually made for women like me to wear.”

Hina said that she and her sister-in-law wors the burkinis for religious and cultural reasons, and also because they do not feel comfortable or confident wearing bikinis.

"We told him we didn't wear bikinis because we weren't comfortable in them. It was a confidence thing,” she said.

"But he kept repeating 'you have to wear a bikini'. We were feeling really humiliated."

The sisters-in-law said they were the only family using the pool at the time, but people watched the incident from their balconies. They described the incident as “embarrassing”.

Maryya said they didn't feel they could use the pool for the rest of their holiday after what happened, despite it being "baking hot".

She said: "I keep thinking about it. We had to do a 'walk of shame' back to the apartment, it was disgusting."