TOURISM in Oxfordshire suffered after TV pictures of the July floods were beamed around the world, according to a new report.

The number of visitors to the UK fell by eight per cent during the month, compared to July last year.

In a flood recovery report to councillors, Paul Gerrish, the county council's head of business improvement, said Oxfordshire's tourism trade, worth more than £576m a year, suffered a downturn like other parts of the country.

He said: "Tourism was affected by the media response, casting Oxford as a 'city underwater'.

"This gave negative associations for the entire county. Initially, there were cancellations of 30-40 per cent of booked beds in Oxfordshire.

"However, those cancelled beds were taken by displaced residents and news crews.

"Against expectations, most tourism businesses have managed to maintain or increase business throughout this period.

"Those that have made losses have reported that difficult road conditions and negative media coverage discouraged visitors.

"Blenheim Palace and others considered to be outdoor attractions experienced a fall-off in visitor numbers."

The report added that it would take time for businesses to calculate losses, not just from the immediate flood damage, for which many were insured, but also for loss of trading and loss of profits, for which many businesses were not insured.

"More information is being collected for the purposes of making claims to the EU Solidarity Fund," it said.

During July's floods, city council staff reassured members of the public that the city's main tourist attractions were still open for business but warned tourists that they could face "travel disruption".

There were 8.8m tourists in Oxford last year, but this year's total is expected to fall.

Barry Wheatley, chairman of the Oxfordshire branch of the Federation of Small Businesses, said the floods were still affecting trade.

He added: "Tourist businesses are losing out because people think we are still three feet under water.

"Tourism is down and it has not been a good summer. We have to get the message out that Oxfordshire is open for business."

Although wet weather rarely deters foreign visitors, the scale of the storms is thought to have had an unprecedented effect.

According to the Office for National Statistics, foreign visitors nationwide fell from 3.53 million in July last year to 3.24 million this year.

The Met Office said July was the wettest in England since official records began in 1914. More than 141mm of rain fell in the month, and floods left thousands homeless across the country.