YORK is “still on track for a successful festive season”, according to the city’s tourism chief, as retailers calculate the cost of the cold snap.

Forecasters say bitterly cold weather will sweep in today from the Arctic, with severe frost at night and snow forecast on Saturday.

But Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of Visit York, remained positive. She said: “York is one of the easiest places to get to in the country, with excellent road and rail links. At the peak of the recent cold weather, the city did experience some visitor cancellations. However, we’re confident that we are still on track for a successful festive season.”

However, many city retailers said sales had slumped with fewer tourists in the city than usual.

“We are all losers,” said Paul Thompson, managing director of Barnitts.

He believed Barnitts compensated for the icy spell by stocking up on items such as sledges, snow shovels and grit, and hoped demand would continue over the coming days.

“By ordering this stock early we took a risk, but it has paid off,” he said.

Items such as sledges also sold quickly at the Early Leaning Centre in Market Street, but the shop’s Jo Mogson said: “We rely heavily on tourist travel, and due to the ice many tourist coaches were cancelled. This resulted in a loss on shop sales.”

Elderly people have also faced problemsd due to the weather, but Age Concern York is working closely with City of York Council to react to emergencies and prevent older residents from being isolated.

Sally Hutchinson, of Age Concern, said there had been a significant increase in falls due to the conditions. She said: “We have a concentrated workforce to respond to older people who have problems with the weather.”

Businesses are striving to remain positive.

A spokesman at Pavers in York said online sales of items such as winter boots had gone up considerably, and the company had benefited from the weather, while B&Q had seen sales of many winter-related products, from nest boxes to heaters, increase by up to 300 per cent.

John Wallace, of The Churchill Hotel in Bootham, said: “When the snow came it originally cost room bookings, but now occupation is only down by about five per cent. We will wave cancellation charges when the weather is bad and hence we are still looking at pretty full planners.” However, he believed heavy snowfall around Christmas may cause problems if not prepared for.