THERE are nine million people in the UK that are deaf or hard of hearing.

It's estimated that hoteliers are missing out on £192 million of potential business by failing to meet their needs.

Although one in every seven people has some hearing loss, only one hotel in five does something about it.

TV presenter Clare Chilton, 37, herself totally deaf since contracting meningitis aged two, says it's unfair to be treated as a "second-class guest - especially as I pay exactly the same rates as others".

Clare, who works as a reporter on the BBC's See Hear programme, recalls once being asleep in her hotel room when a man opened her door, came into the room and approached her bed.

She describes her "horror" at being woken by a strange hand on her shoulder.

The man was a member of staff who'd been sent along because Clare had requested a wake-up call the night before, but she says unwanted and unexpected physical contact is "truly awful", and an experience she has to deal with on a regular basis when travelling in this country.

"Any woman would feel terrified to wake up and find a strange man standing over their bed - but it's worse if you're deaf because you often feel so vulnerable," she says.

"I'm very often a victim of crass and insensitive male intrusion in hotels, even after I've asked for a woman to wake me up."

Last year Clare visited hotels across the country to assess staff attitudes and levels of service for deaf and hard of hearing people.

Her findings were included in Deaf to Change, a report commissioned by a fire safety company called Fireco, timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act.

On Wednesday, March 14, Fireco joins forces with the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) to host a Hotel Deaf Awareness Training seminar in Bournemouth.

As well as product demonstrations, hoteliers will be shown, step by step, what they need to do to achieve accessibility for all customers - including the provision of flashing fire alarms, alarms with vibrating pads to be placed beneath pillows and a loop system at counter areas and reception desks that enable communication with hearing-aid users.

There has been a 45 per increase in the number of registered deaf people in the UK since 1989 - mainly due to the fact that people are living longer, leading to more cases of age-related hearing loss.