ROOM rates are on the rise at hotels, but accommodation in Britain is still much cheaper than at sky high foreign establishments, a report has claimed.

London room rates rose nearly 10 per cent and all but one of 20 British destinations experienced rises in the first six months of 1996, according to research from Hogg Robinson Business Travel International.

But despite the price hike, London (average room rate £94.54, sterling) was as low as 41st in the list of high charging world destinations and British hotels were described as "still representing good value on the worldwide scale".

After London, Heathrow airport had the highest charging hotels with an average rate of £83.66. But this compared very favourably with the world's highest priced hotels in Hong Kong where room rates rose more than 6 per cent to an average of nearly £155.