WHAT a grasping, greedy city York is turning out to be. First it's the council and their ridiculously inflated car parking charges.

Now it is the hotel and guest house owners who unite to prevent anyone from booking only one night's accommodation in the city if it happens to be a Saturday.

The only places where it seems possible to book a single Saturday night are those hotels which routinely charge around £100-plus per room.

I'm getting married on a Saturday in October at the Register Office. My family live in Bridlington and wanted to stay in York that night so they could spend as long as possible with us.

They need accommodation which is fairly central because two of them have arthritis and they do not drive. They don't need two nights accommodation and they do not wish to pay inflated hotel prices.

Sorry York, but they will be getting a taxi home that night - your loss!

We chose York because we thought it would make things easier for our guests, many of whom are travelling from Scotland and southern England.

We know some of them have had similar problems booking accommodation and will also not be staying in York.

The hoteliers say people could phone the day beforehand to check whether there are vacancies - presumably they hold out until the last minute hoping for someone to book two nights. This is not very helpful if you need to plan ahead.

I'm not surprised to read the reports about hoteliers rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of charging extortionate rates to wealthy Royal Ascot visitors - it's what I should expect.

Janice Simpson,

Broadmanor,

North Duffield, Selby.

Updated: 11:47 Tuesday, August 03, 2004