A HOTEL offering holidaymakers a break from election overkill has suffered an own-goal after it was asked to act as a polling station.

Bosses at Walworth Castle Hotel, near Darlington, County Durham, thought they had come up with an ideal cure for people tired of election fever with special Get Away from the Election weekends.

Visitors were offered the chance to stay in "election-free" hotel rooms, without a television or radio, and staff even designed a newsletter to replace the usual morning newspapers.

Guests were also banned from discussing politics, with offenders asked to dip into their wallets and contribute to a special ballot box.

So when manager Rachel Swains received a telephone call two weeks ago asking if the hotel could be used as a polling station, she presumed it was a prank.

She said: "I thought it was just a joke, someone winding us up, but the person said they were from Darlington Borough Council and were deadly serious.

"It is just so ironic that we made all this effort to put on special election-free breaks and we still wind up as a polling station."

The idea for the breaks came from Rachel's husband, Chris, who also manages the hotel.

After becoming tired of the constant election coverage, he decided to offer visitors the breaks, and the response was overwhelming.

Rachel said: "Only a few people have been on the breaks because we have had to cancel them, but we got plenty of calls.

"I think it shows that people just want to get away from the election, us included. Except now, of course, we are going to be right in the middle of it."