Tourism staff in York have come under fire on national radio - but passed the Evening Press telephone test with flying colours.

The flak came their way during a phone-in to Jimmy Young's BBC Radio 2 show, when two callers rang in about inquiries they said they had made of the city's tourist information service.

The first, who said he had been inquiring about what hotel accommodation was available this weekend, complained that he had been told that the only rooms available had to be booked for three nights.

The second claimed the tourist information office could not tell him which attractions were open and which were closed in York.

Then Mr Young remarked on the fact he had received more than one complaint about York that day.

Tourism bosses acted quickly when they heard about the programme and Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of York Tourism Bureau, offered to do an interview.

But the programme said that instead they would read out a short statement.

The Evening Press made a call to the centre to ask what accommodation was available and was told by that most hotels were booked up this weekend.

The woman who answered was helpful and offered to take the caller's details and to search through what was available then ring back.

When asked what was open, she said lots of things were and was keen to tell the caller all about the Jorvik Centre re-opening.

Ms Cruddas said: "We have experienced a dramatic increase in inquiries to our Tourist Information Centres and we are trying our hardest to accommodate everyone, no-one has been turned away.

"Some hotels and guest houses prefer to take bookings for three nights but this is not representative of the whole city.

"We have taken numerous bookings for two night stays and will continue to take bookings for one, two or more nights.

Hotels and guest houses are filling up fast and one night stays are more difficult to place but we do not turn them away.

"The Tourist Information Centre staff are working flat out to deal with the huge volume of inquiries. We are asking people to be patient and not to telephone at peak times."

She said the centre was also encouraging our visitors to email accommodation requests to the centre to help free up the phone lines - email: tic@york-tourism.co.uk

And she said there were numerous ways of finding out what is open and what events are happening over the Easter period.

Apart from calling the centre on 01904 621756, visitors could log on to its website www.york-tourism.co.uk

She said websites had been set up to help people find out what is and isn't open during the foot and mouth crisis. The best of these included www.openbritain.gov.uk www.yorkshirevisitor.com and www.visitbritain.com

The Tourism Bureau also produces the York What's On publication which is available from the Tourist Information Centres.

Updated: 09:26 Thursday, April 12, 2001