GUESTS were evacuated as firefighters were called to one of York's newest hotels during the city's busiest weekend of the year.

Management of the Quality Hotel, in Piccadilly, emptied the building as smoke filled the kitchen.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Fire Service said the smoke had been caused by a plastic tray left on top of a toaster. Three female members of staff were taken to York District Hospital as a precaution after inhaling smoke, but nobody was hurt. The kitchen suffered some smoke damage, which manager Philip Down said had now been cleaned.

He said: "We evacuated as a matter of course, but it was a minor incident and nobody was hurt.

"It had been a very busy weekend, but this happened at about 10.20am on Sunday and everybody was leaving. About 90 per cent of the hotel's guests had already checked out."

Updated: 10:53 Monday, November 26, 2001