The new Lonely Planet guide to Britain condemns London as "horrifically expensive" and warns visitors to expect fights "between liquored-up lager louts".

Tourists are told of British breakfasts which can include such "horrors" as black pudding, with a warning to tourists that if they ate it at home "they would die". The guide says of the millennium bridge that whilst it is beautiful, its opening and closing was "the cock-up of all cock-ups".

The publication does little to help the beleaguered tourist industry. The British Incoming Tourists Association said that it was "obviously not helpful", but dismissed it as "unrepresentative" of feedback they had received. A spokeswomen for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport was not worried by the negative comments in the book, pointing out that there were lots of good points made.