A RESTAURANT owner says he has banned Airtours employees from dining in his bistro after he claims he was let down by a series of bookings.

Ray Peake, of Callums Bistro, Accrington was left furious after an alleged series of problems with employees from the company who had arranged Christmas meals.

He said one party tried to change the date for their booking, another cancelled their reservation just days before they were due to eat and the icing on the cake was when a booking for 19 failed to show on the actual night.

But today a spokesperson for Airtours PLC stressed that there had been no official company bookings made this year as Christmas parties were classed as non-essential spending and said no bookings should not have been put in Airtours name.

Mr Peake said one group, based at the Globe Centre in Accrington, was scheduled to take up one half of the Abbey Street restaurant and would have spent around £500 on the meal if they had turned up.

But he claimed they failed to arrive or cancel the booking and said when he telephoned to find out why he was told they would arrive shortly but never did.

He said: "I was seething inside but I could not show that at the time as we had other customers in. But when they realised what had happened they said it was disgusting too.

"I am absolutely furious and am going to ban the whole company, subject only to written guarantees by the directors."

When contacted by the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, one member of staff who made a booking explained that although she had made the booking it was on behalf of another party of employees not including herself.

These staff, she said, were sent on company educationals to research holiday locations at the same time as the meal and were out of the country.

She said: "I cannot be expected to be there to make sure that people turn up to the event -- I am not their mother."