A TOURISM company advertising walking holidays on the Malvern Hills is offering accommodation to those who book in "nearby" Wiltshire!

Diamond Holidays of Market Harborough is promoting the three-day breaks at the end of September.

They include two days' guided walks on the Hills but walkers will be brought to Malvern and taken back to Swindon each day by coach - a round trip of some 100 miles.

Keith Riley, Diamond's managing director, said the company had a good relationship with the Swindon Hotel.

"Our customers are very concerned with price and quality-value for money," he said.

Diamond is charging its customers £119 per person for the three-day break.

"My view is that if we can accommodate tourist parties, we should," said Julie Josey, owner of the Mount Pleasant Hotel.

"However, the package that this particular company put together simply does not pay us enough.

"The other problem is that very few of the hotels in Malvern are big enough to handle coach parties, which can be up to 50."

Sharon Grey, Malvern Hills District Council's head of tourism, said it was disappointing that Diamond had not booked into a local hotel.

"Let's look on the bright side, the people who visit Malvern may well come back, and if they do, they will probably want to stay here instead of spending hours on the coach each day."