BLACKPOOL'S peak-season tourist trade has taken a nosedive as the fuel shortage grinds the resort to a halt.

Illuminations traffic was down to just a trickle by Wednesday, September 13 and hoteliers have already received cancellations from holidaymakers worried that they will not be able to travel home if they visit the resort.

Eileen Flannigan, owner of the Midlands Hotel on Barton Avenue, said she had already received three cancellations and was expecting more. She said: "It is too early to say how badly this will affect the hotel trade but I am expecting more people ringing to say they won't be coming if it carries on much longer.

"It couldn't have happened at a worse time of the year really. It is a hard enough earning a living without this happening at our busiest time." Coach firms were cutting down on tours in a bid to save their rapidly depleating stocks of diesel. A spokesman for local firm Jacksons Coaches, which has a booking office on the corner of Coronation Street and Hornby Road, said he had noticed a drop in the number of visitors to the resort and some tours had been cancelled. "If we don't get any more fuel by next week we will have to reassess the situation."

He added: "We had a coach go through the lights on Tuesday night and the traffic was virtually non-existent. It was very strange, a bit like a Christmas Day evening."

Illuminations manager Richard Ryan said the department had enough diesel to run its maintainance wagons and the illuminations would continue to shine regardless of the lack of visitors. "It is not fair to the people who have made it here if we switch them off," he said.

Linda Hutchinson, owner of Zodiac Gifts on the Golden Mile has also noticed the difference. "It could not have come at a worse time. I close at 10pm every night but if it carries on like this I will be shutting early," she said.

Head of tourism Jane Seddon has not ruled out the possibility of extending the lights to cater for people who could not make it to the resort.

She also said day trippers, including visitors who came to the resort specifically to go through the lights, are most affected.