TOURIST attractions and hotels in York were today preparing for a bumper weekend as holidaymakers swamped the city for a sunshine break.

But there was bad news from weather experts who are forecasting showers and mild temperatures over the Easter weekend.

And day trippers from North Yorkshire seeking out the traditional family attractions were likely to get snagged in holiday jams, according to York traffic police and AA Roadwatch.

Meanwhile, rail companies today denied that repair work - which could add an hour or more to journeys - would leave holiday passengers in the lurch.

In York, all the major hotels had a handful of rooms vacant tonight, but these are likely to disappear tomorrow as last-minute visitors descend on the city.

Steve Anderson, assistant manager of the Swallow Hotel in Tadcaster Road, York, said: "There have been a lot of late enquiries this year, probably thanks to the sunny weather, but we have had to turn a lot of people away."

He said an availability check at other York hotels indicated the same picture. "York is going to be choc-a-block tomorrow night. There will hardly be a room in the city," he said.

A PA Weather Centre spokesman said: "There's a lot of cloud on the way. It's difficult to say when, but it will rain at some point and there will not be an awful lot of sun."

The county's roads got off to a quiet start today and there was no early build-up of traffic.

Julia Davison, of AA Roadwatch, said: "If the cloud clears, many people will want to head off to the coast as usual and so the A64 will get clogged up and roads in to popular places like York and Harrogate will also become busy.

"Showers have been forecast for today and if we get any real rain then many families will choose to head off to indoor shopping centres."

Traffic constable PC Jack Russell said: "As people get stuck sitting in traffic and as the kids start getting bored and complaining it is easy for tempers to get frayed."

Rail passengers were also facing delays today as a nine-week programme of track work began. Darlington station will be closed between midnight on Saturday and 8am on Easter Monday and trains will not be stopping at Durham and Chester-le-Street stations either.

Passengers travelling to these stations will have to take a bus from Northallerton and those wishing to go further north will find their trains are to be diverted. This will add an hour to journeys from London to Newcastle but rail companies said it did not amount to disruption because the work was planned in advance.

GNER spokesman David Mallender said: "It has been planned to coincide with off-peak travel times. Most people, who are going away for the holidays, choose to travel on Good Friday or the preceding day."

A Virgin spokesman said its cross-country service would be terminating at York while the engineering work is carried out.

Northern Spirit said most services were running normally but advised passengers travelling in the effected areas to allow themselves plenty of time to make their journeys.

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