A YORK tourism business which fought back from devastating flooding last year is in the running for a prestigious national award.

Lendal Tower has been shortlisted in the Visit England Excellence Awards, and is competing against just two other properties in the whole of England to take the top prize.

Owner Mike Stainsby said they were delighted with the news, especially as last year the ground floor was under three feet of floodwater.

He said: “It really got us hard. At the start of last year we’d had a good couple of years trading, then to be hit by the flooding set us right back to zero.

“Then people weren’t visiting York and it was very difficult trading - it was a hard slog.

“To be shortlisted for this award, we felt vindicated.

“It was worth putting in all the hard work.”

Lendal Tower won the self catering category in last year’s Visit York awards, and it was that accolade that saw it put forward for the national prize.

Last week, Mike found out Lendal Tower had made it into the final.

They will travel to London for the ceremony at the end of April to find out whether they have won.

“We are a small team here, but everyone is very dedicated and has a real passion for the building.

“Winning the Visit York awards was good enough, a great honour, but then to find out we have been shortlisted for the whole country is quite something,” he added.

Mike’s company Tiercel Leisure, which is based in Harrogate, also owns the self-catering accommodation at 10 St Mary’s in York.

They took on Lendal Tower in early 2015.

The scheduled ancient monument dates back to 1299, and originally formed part of the city’s defences.

It was later taken on by the York New Water Works Company and the room that is now a master bedroom was the company’s grand boardroom.

York also features elsewhere in the Visit England shortlist.

The National Railway Museum’s Countess of York - which serves traditional afternoon teas in an old fashioned railway carriage - is up for the “Afternoon Tea of the Year” award.

The Pheasant in Helmsley is also shortlisted in Visit England’s hotel category.