A FURIOUS hotelier has lashed out at inaccurate weather forecasts after the rain that was supposed to ruin the weekend never materialised.

Kevin Wood, who owns the Cumberland, Suncliff and Cliffeside hotels on Bournemouth's East Cliff, said forecasters needed to realise how their predictions affected local businesses.

He fired off an angry email to BBC online on Saturday morning after the heavy rain that was widely forecast for Bournemouth never came.

He said he was livid that even on Saturday morning, the BBC had not updated its website and were still showing rain that was not there.

"I check the weather forecasts about 10 times a day and they are continually wrong," he said.

"Our business is so weather-dependent. People outside the area check the forecast before deciding whether to book a break and won't bother if they think it is going to be bad.

"And I rely on the forecasts to help me decide how many staff I need and whether we can go ahead with our outdoor events, like our Ibiza chill-out events. It poses so many problems when they get in wrong."

He is also annoyed that Bournemouth is "lumped in" with the South West, instead of being shown as South Central, and that Bournemouth is never shown on the BBC's television map, despite being the biggest town in Dorset.

In a desperate bid to improve things, he has offered to host a weather cam on the roof of one of his hotels.

Earlier this month, head of tourism Mark Smith said inaccurate weather forecasts were costing the town money.

"Wrong forecasts have been a problem for Bournemouth for many years," he said.

"Often we have totally different weather to other areas, just a few miles away, which makes it very difficult for forecasters to predict with any accuracy."