ANGRY hoteliers have told of their battle to persuade prospective guests that York is safe to visit, following national media coverage of the floods.

Some hotels say they have received dozens of calls in recent days from people wondering if they should cancel their bookings.

While it has proved possible to reassure most prospective guests, at least one hotel has suffered cancellations.

Hoteliers fear others who were considering coming to York will have decided to go elsewhere instead.

Some TV and newspaper reports have suggested that virtually the whole city centre was in danger of being flooded, with one paper suggesting York was in for a repeat of the disaster of November 2000.

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of York Tourism Bureau and president of York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said some businesses were "going bananas" over the floods coverage and its impact on them.

David Brookes, general manager of the Dean Court Hotel, said it had received "dozens and dozens" of calls from prospective guests, wondering whether they should cancel their bookings after reading completely unbalanced stories.

One worried woman even rang at 11pm on Tuesday.

He said staff had been able to reassure those who had rung up, but he was concerned about other potential visitors who had been put off coming. "It's atrocious," he said.

A spokeswoman for York Viking Moat House Hotel said it had received a lot of calls from people wondering if they should cancel after seeing and reading of the floods. Staff had had to work hard to reassure them York was safe to visit.

"It has taken a lot of persuading, although we have been able to reassure the majority," she said.

Trisha Matthews, duty manager at Queens Hotel in Skeldergate, said she had taken four calls from worried prospective guests in five minutes.

While she and her staff had been able to persuade most people that it was safe to come, there had been a couple of cancellations.

She said the hotel was essentially built on stilts above the level of most floodwaters.

And even if the hotel's underground car park was flooded, guests could instead park across the street at a NCP car park at a special rate.

"I feel the coverage has been hugely detrimental," she said.

Updated: 11:44 Thursday, February 14, 2002