GUESTS at York's StayCity aparthotel have told of their anger and anxiety after discovering that the UK's first confirmed coronavirus victims had been staying there.

They claimed staff were too slow to warn them of the dangers and said their breaks in York had been ruined by the outbreak.

However, StayCity insisted today it had acted as quickly as possible to inform staff and guests of the situation, once health experts had confirmed that two of its guests had the virus, and said it had offered guests the chance to cancel bookings, offered them refunds and offered to help them find alternative accommodation.

Ellisa Imrie, 21, from Manchester, said she and her boyfriend Andy Neale, 21, had come to York for a late Christmas present which had been ruined and she was 'fuming.'

She told The Press: "Me and Andy checked in on Thursday at 3pm. We weren’t made aware of any news of anything until Friday morning, when Andy went to the Co-op next door to get us some apple juice and a reporter caught him on the way back in.

"Andy then went and spoke to the reception who told him everything was a ‘lie” and to not worry.

"By 4pm, we’d had three other reporters come up to us outside the hotel and we’d had confirmation the two people staying at the hotel were infected."

She claimed that hotel staff had not once made them aware what was going on,and they had found out everything online or through the reporters.

"We spoke to reception and they told us the risk was minimal and we did not need to worry or panic, so we decided to stay for our final night but take precautions - I carry anti bacterial wipes hand sanitiser and I don’t touch anything in the hotel without a wipe in hand.

"I’d have been less worried and anxious if they’d had made us aware and gave us precautions, like ways we could prevent a spread, instead of being left in the dark - I was annoyed and angry." She added that they were checking out today.

Michiela Saunders, 26, of Bishop Auckland, said she checked in yesterday with a friend for a two night city break but, after learning on Facebook that two infected guests had been staying at the hotel, she demanded a refund and checked out again.

She said she had contracted swine flu in 2007 and was in quarantine for a week, and was angry they had not been warned. "I have a little boy at home and I don’t want there to be any risk of me catching coronavirus and passing it on to him."

She said she had subsequently found alternative accommodation in York.

A spokeswoman for StayCity said today: "Once we had received confirmation from PHE of the positive coronavirus tests yesterday [Friday] afternoon, we acted as quickly as we could to fully inform both our staff and our guests of the situation - including those already in the hotel and forward bookings.

"All our guests were offered the opportunity to check out or cancel their bookings, with refunds being offered. Those that needed it were helped to find alternative accommodation, with any difference in price being paid, although many decided to remain at the property.

"We would like to apologise to all our guests whose visit has been affected by these events."