AN EYESORE York hotel which squatters turned into a "peace hotel" today became an impregnable metal fortress.

Welders arrived at the disused White Swan Hotel, in Piccadilly, to seal up the ground floor with thick metal sheets.

The metal was later covered with white paint.

Concerns were raised today that the rundown building, disused for 20 years, looks even worse now. The squatters were evicted last Tuesday after 32 days. A security guard has been seen guarding the £2m hotel since the eviction. Ken Curran, who represented the squatters in court, today hit out at the decision to seal up the hotel. He said: "I think what has happened to the peace hotel is disgusting. As Charles Dickens said, the law is an ass."

Updated: 14:33 Wednesday, May 28, 2003