A NEW Lake District guidebook, which includes swingeing attacks on the volume of traffic, lack of parking and the 'dubious delights of over-touristed settlements', has made residents and tourism operators see red.

Just published, the first edition of The Rough Guide to the Lake District pulls no punches in its descriptions of some aspects of Lakeland life.

"Too many people bring cars to the Lake District and, as a consequence, once quiet valleys and unspoiled villages have disappeared under the weight of traffic," proclaims the section on getting around.

The area around Windermere appears to attract the harshest criticism.

While acknowledging the beauty of the lake and surrounding areas, the author says its attractions make it far too popular for its own good.

Roads become traffic bottlenecks especially during the holiday period when, claims the guide "there's more chance of winning the lottery than finding parking space and accommodation is packed to the gills".

The price of a night's stay also comes in for a panning.

"Hotels in the Lakes tend to charge what they can get away with and, as location is everything, lakeside or isolated fell retreats can get away with an awful lot," says the guide.

Cumbria Tourist Board chief Chris Collier said the comments were "just way off post" and "total exaggeration".

"They clearly demonstrate a lack of thorough research," she told the Gazette, saying the author could have walked into any guest house in August this summer and found accommodation, and that traffic levels had decreased greatly since the late 1980s.

Praising the wide choice and quality of accommodation around the district, she said there was no substantiation for the jibe about over-charging.

Proprietor of the Burn How Garden House Hotel, in Bowness, Michael Robinson, said the comments were "rubbish", and accused books such as The Rough Guide of putting people off for no reason.

"The hotel trade in the Lakes is highly competitive and prices are also competitive.

Our rates are about half to a third of those charged in London or other main cities," he told the Gazette, pointing to a wide range of quality accommodation throughout the area at a price to suit every budget.

Parking was not the "nightmare" described, he added, saying that Braithwaite Fold car park, in Bowness, was rarely full.

Generally the guide is informative and well-researched with praise for things such as good Lakeland cooking using local ingredients.

Grasmere is described as an "eminently pleasing ensemble with an alluring lake", and Staveley as "a pretty village".

Ambleside, on the other hand, is "more a retail experience than a Lakeland town" while Windermere town is said to be a transport hub with "precious little else to keep you in the slate-grey streets", and "few people bother with Rydal Water."

Chairman of Windermere Parish Council Richard Ogden said Windermere was an ordinary little town because it was functional, but said car parks were rarely full, and the views expressed on traffic were "gross over-exaggeration."

The guide follows in the footsteps of two Rough Guides to Britain and England, published in March, which also criticised busy towns in the Lake District.