BLACKPOOL landlords have expressed concerns to the organisers of a new accommodation rating system over the size of their beds.

The AA, RAC and English Tourist Board, which currently all have their own grading systems and symbols, have been working together for the past three years to provide a new scheme.

From July 1 all three boards will be in direct competition to inspect and rate accommodation with uniform symbols being used - so a grade given by the AA will be the same as one awarded by an English Tourist Board inspector.

However, at a launch meeting at Blackpool's Rosedale Priavte Hotel organised by the English Tourist Board, Blackpool Council and Lancashire Tourism Partnership, landlords expressed concerns.

They say that the majority of the town's 3,500 hotels, guest houses and self catering units could not join the scheme and take advantage of the uniform ratings, due to the fact that their 4ft beds could only be classed as singles.

The scheme specifies that to describe a room as a double the beds must be 4ft 6ins.

Doric House owner Joy Peters explained: "This would wipe out the majority of hoteliers that can take advantage of the scheme which is a shame.

"In principal, though, it is a very good idea because customers can get quite confused by the array of ratings."

But English Tourist Board quality assurance assessor Andrew Ford convinced hoteliers that they could still join the scheme, saying: "The concerns expressed were rare and the comment that the majority of Blackpool hoteliers would miss out on this opportunity is a gross exaggeration.

"Out of 30 advisory visits we have done so far the 4ft bed issue was a problem for two proprietors."

The aim of the programme is to reduce the confusion which arose through all three organisations grading accommodation differently.

Chairman of Blackpool's tourism committe, Roy Lewis, said that hopefully this would acknowledge and increase the standard of accommodation that the town has.

He said: "The star system for hotels, diamonds for guest houses and keys for self accommodation will soon be a recognisable sign of quality in Britain's number one resort."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.