YORK Racecourse will become home to a swathe of temporary structures when Royal Ascot arrives in the city.

The plush executive chalets will be constructed to cater for box holders, should royalty arrive in June 2005.

Ascot sells out all of its 287 boxes for the Royal Meeting at the Berkshire track. But York, which will host the festival while Ascot goes through a £180 million redevelopment, only has 55 boxes.

Nick Smith, Ascot spokesman, said racecourse bosses would look to accommodate as many requests as possible when the meeting is staged in York, using both permanent and temporary facilities.

"We are definitely going to use some temporary boxes, " he said.

"The facilities that are available at the moment allow us to create very high-quality boxes with top grade facilities."

Executive chalets, which are used to boost box-holder numbers at the national hunt Cheltenham festival, can be multi-storey. Some of the more adventurous come with fully-fitted kitchens and even lifts.

Mr Smith said planning for the York meeting was already well under way, despite it being at least 18 months before the prestigious festival takes over the city.

"Whatever temporary facilities are in place, they will have a view of the track. In terms of planning, we will be meeting with York next week to talk about the progress.

We all already know what we are doing, other operations will be decided nearer the time."

James Brennan, York Racecourse marketing manager, said: "Everyone has said all along that we will need to look at temporary facilities.

"The success that Aintree and Cheltenham have had with temporary boxes would seem a sensible route for us to go."

Mr Smith said he hoped the Berkshire track's redevelopment plans would be approved in the next couple of months.

That would allow the course to shut in September and would mean Royal Ascot at York would take place in 2005 rather than 2006.

23/01/04

Updated: 16:31 Friday, April 30, 2004