ALMOST a quarter of tourists have blamed the weather for putting a dampener on their visit to the Yorkshire Dales.

A survey by the national park authority found that while more than half said nothing had ruined their stay, 23 per cent said bad weather had spoilt their enjoyment.

But Margaret Baines, landlady of the Tan Hill Inn, near Reeth - the highest pub in Britain - said wind and rain were good for her business.

"Visitors tend to stay a lot longer when it's bad outside," she said. "People will always whinge about the weather, but nobody should come to the Yorkshire Dales expecting a heatwave - we've already had our first sleet and snow showers up here."

Yorkshire Dales National Park member Yvonne Peacock said there was still plenty of attractions for visitors when it rained.

She said: "There's things people can do in Leyburn, Hawes, Richmond and Reeth. It's the smaller villages that suffer the most when the weather is bad."

In May, hundreds of business owners were furious when weather forecasters blundered by predicting heavy rain in the area over the Bank Holiday.

Although there was some rain on the Saturday, most areas had beautiful warm and sunny weather on both Sunday and Monday.

The mistake meant thousands of tourists failed to materialise.