LANCASHIRE travel giant Airtours has moved swiftly to allay fears that holiday bookings in Spain had been hit following the recent spate of bombings by Basque terrorists.

Media speculation prompted a 20p fall in the company's share price to 245p yesterday, wiping more than £90 million off the company's market value.

But Airtours was quick to play down the impact of the bombing campaign.

"There haven't been any cancellations," said a spokesman for the company.

The comments came after press speculation that the group's late sales to Spain could be hurt by the latest attack on tourist destinations by the Basque separatists ETA.

At the weekend, British holidaymakers staying in Salou on the Costa Dorada were evacuated from their hotel in their night clothes minutes before a bomb exploded in a car parked outside their hotel.

This was the latest action in a sporadic campaign of violence which has targeted Spain's tourism industry over the past 20 years.

While the Foreign Office is warning British holidaymakers to be on their guard, the Association of British Travel Agents said the ETA campaign had done little to deter people from travelling to Spain.

"UK citizens are pretty hard-nosed about things like this and there have only been a handful of cancellations," said a spokesman.

Airtours, however, which earlier this month announced a 12 per cent increase in summer bookings this year, maintained that the terrorist activity would have no impact.

"The majority of our holidays are already booked," said a company spokesman.

The investment community has also warned that the impact of the bombings should not be exaggerated by shareholders.

"We need to be careful not to get this out of proportion," said Richard Finch, analyst at Williams de Broe.

"Investors need to step back and count to 10."