Graders disagree over symbols

The AA and RAC are prepared to use a separate symbol from the English Tourist Board to grade guesthouses, inns and B&Bs if the old crown symbol remains in use.

The three parties, who have agreed to produce a harmonised grading scheme for England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, will meet in several weeks' time to try to find a symbol to suit all three organisations by the end of this quarter.

However, the motoring organisations are said to be so unhappy about the use of the crown symbol that they are prepared to use a separate symbol altogether.

The motoring organisations opposition to crowns is threefold. First, they want to see a new symbol for a new scheme. Second, they think the crown symbol is politically insensitive outside England, especially in Ireland, where both the AA and RAC will promote the scheme.

Finally, they believe it will be difficult to sell the scheme to accommodation owners in Scotland and Wales, when the Scots and the Welsh are already dropping their own "crown schemes".

"The most important thing is that the harmonised standards remain, even if we used different symbols," said an industry insider.