Several hotels in Snowdonia are not very happy with the BBC.

The organisation angered a number of B&Bs in Llanrwst and Betws y Coed after it cancelled rooms at the last minute it had intended to use for the National Eisteddfod festival in August.

All eight rooms at The Park Hill Guest House were booked for nine days in December 2017 and were intended for Radio Cymru’s technical staff.

The BBC paid a 25% deposit of £1,600 .

But last week, owner Jaap Buis was shocked to receive an e-mail saying the rooms were no longer needed.

Mr Buis, who has run the guest house in Betws y Coed for 20 years, claims he lost £4,800 because the booking was made for the busiest time of the year.

He said: ‘Our cancellation rules would have meant BBC was liable for the whole of the amount last Friday, only having paid a non-refundable deposit.

‘But on Thursday the BBC cancelled the whole lot as they were no longer needed.’

Mr Buis said he had managed to re-book some of the rooms but was still out of pocket.

He added: ‘It’s just sad the BBC think nothing of treating small businesses in this way.’

Another Betws y Coed B&B owner who wanted to remain anonymous, confirmed the BBC had also cancelled rooms just hours before they would have been liable to pay the full amount.

Chair of the Betws-y-Coed Tourism Association Barbara Drake said: ‘It’s disappointing the BBC has acted in this way, as the impact this sort of thing has only small businesses is huge.’

A BBC Cymru Wales spokeswoman added: ‘Due to the nature of the broadcast operation, we sometimes need to adapt our plans and make changes to pre-booked accommodation.

‘Where these unavoidable changes occur, we occasionally have to amend our bookings.’

The National Eisteddfod is an annual festival celebrating the best of Wales which takes place every year, from August 2-9, in a different location.

More than 150,000 visitors are expected to attend the event in Betws y Coed this year.

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