Carpet-maker Tom Grime, whose traditional woollen mill at Solva has been making quality floor-coverings for 100 years, says the former Wales Tourist Board is trying to pull the rug from under his feet.

On the eve of its centenary next year, the Solva Woollen Mill proprietor has been told by a customer that an inspector from Visit Wales (formerly the Wales Tourist Board) has ruled their carpets insufficiently luxurious for top star rating.

"The customer said the inspector listed changes that would have to be made to retain his star rating in a cottage let through Coastal Cottages and one of them is to replace one of our bedroom carpets with a more luxurious one," said Mr Grime.

"I am very upset at the Tourist Board's attitude.

Their purpose is to encourage visitors to Wales and part of the attraction is that Wales is different. Stripping the Welshness from holiday cottages seems to suggest they are trying to make Wales more like England.

"I wonder if all holiday cottages throughout the UK are destined to become just Travel Lodge rooms with no distinct local character."

Mr Grime wonders if all their floor rugs, carpets and stair runners supplied to holiday lets are to be removed under the threat of loss of star rating.

"Shouldn't the Tourist Board be supporting local businesses and backing the use of floor coverings that give these cottages a unique local flavour?" he asks. "What message does this send to my customers, who have all been happy with the unique traditional quality of our products?"

Mr Grime has run the mill at Middle Mill for 20 years, having taken it over from the Griffiths family who opened it in 1907.