A YORK householder won an apology today after complaining of a less-than-welcoming reception at the city's Residents First weekend.

Debra Woodhall-James criticised the long queues she faced in the hope of securing some of a small number of tickets for Residents First events.

She said she managed to get tickets for free cream teas at a York hotel, only to find the venue knew nothing about it.

She complained that she had queued at the Parliament Street information centre for tickets from 9.15am. The office opened at 10am.

She said: "By 9.50am an official going up the queue canvassing people about what tickets they were after had told us we had no chance for cinema tickets, Waterworld tickets or cream teas, but we decided to brave the cold."

She eventually got two tickets for cream teas at the Holiday Inn, in Tadcaster Road.

But when she arrived at the hotel, she said, she found none of the staff knew about it.

She said: "We explained to a man that we had arrived for our cream tea, but he knew nothing.

"We showed him our tickets, he went pale and said all the staff knew nothing about it.

"Finally, tea and coffee arrived and partially frozen scones with margarine, jam and cream emerged."

Holiday Inn's general manager Chris Barrett immediately gave a full apology, offered Ms Woodhall-James dinner in the hotel restaurant and has promised to host a complimentary cream tea for 100 Evening Press readers next month.

"I can assure you that a full briefing was given to all senior members of the team, and a distinct lack of communication took place," he said.

"If I had braved the queues and the weather and been disappointed with the availability of certain attractions, I too would be very disappointed that a top York hotel could not provide a basic cream tea, which had been pre-booked.

"This is far from the impression that we wish to portray to the many visitors that frequent our city and, at times such as this where we have the opportunity to treat our local residents, we should grasp the opportunity to excel at what we do best."

Tony Bennett, chairman of the First Stop York tourism partnership, said: "Numbers attending were far higher than expectations and queues were therefore longer.

"The majority of feedback from the event has been extremely positive. We are, however, obviously very concerned by this complaint."

The Residents First Weekend is intended to be an annual thank-you for the welcome given to tourists by the city's population.

Residents were able to visit many of the sights on York's tourist trail, ranging from churches and historic buildings, to visitors' favourites such as the National Railway Museum and the YorkBoat guided river trips.

Hotels gave away rooms for a night, while restaurants served cut-price meals. Eight hotels, invited people along to share 320 sandwiches, 50 large fruit cakes, 640 scones, 40 jars of jam and 160 pints of cream - all served free of charge.

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of York Tourism Bureau, said: "It is vital, when our visitors come to York, that they receive a warm and friendly welcome, and it is the people who live and work here that make that happen.

"Residents First Weekend is a thank-you for that support, but it is also about reminding local people just how much there is to see and do on the doorstep."

* competition winner Joyce Coyle headed for the Novotel, in Fishergate, York, for the night after telling judges it would make her feel like a "queen for the day."

The 74-year-old winner, who lives in Nunthorpe Crescent, was joined by her daughter, Susan and son-in-law, John Robinson, who were also offered a room in the hotel.

She said: "It is the first time I have ever spent a night in a York hotel, and it was lovely."

People who won the opportunity to spend a free night in a hotel in the city as part of Residents' First, are as follows.-

Mr K Browne, Mr S Hegarty, Mrs L West, Mr and Mrs Tomlinson, Mrs Tew, Ms Drew, Mrs Winters, Mrs J Coyle, Mr and Mrs Robinson, Mrs Schofield, Mrs Perry, Mrs Haigh, Mr and Mrs Crawshaw, Mr Ward, Mr Neal, Mrs Hindle, Mrs Fitton, Mr Williamson, Mrs Drew, Mrs Houldridge, Mr and Mrs Robinson, Mr Atkinson, Mr Freeland, Mrs Illing, Mrs Colley, Mrs Bolton, Mrs Spence, Mr Dunlop, Mrs Woods, Mrs Suter, Mrs Harper, Mrs Balla, Ms Vince, Ms Johnson, Mr Pollard, Mr McCowan, Ms Rennie, Miss Boldry, Ms Marson, Mrs Cressey, Mrs Brown, Mrs Stephenson, Mrs Maloney, Mrs C Marshall, Mrs A Harrison, Mrs Arundel, Mrs Benton, Mrs Buckle, Mrs Fussey, Mr Hindle, Mrs Elsworth, Mrs McKie, Mr Bradley and Ms Wrightson.

Updated: 15:18 Monday, January 28, 2002