Questions are being asked why spy agency GCHQ, a kiosk selling cars and National Grid wireless sites are among businesses asked to vote on a new five-year term for a tourism initiative on the Yorkshire coast.

The Yorkshire Coast Business Improvement District was set up five years ago to promote tourism in the region and is a private company.

Around 1,300 businesses from Staithes to Spurn Point have paid the mandatory levy, after a 2018 ballot in favour of the district was passed with a turnout of just 29 per cent.

Now businesses are being asked if the district should continue for another five-year term, although this time the number of businesses balloted has shrunk to 631.

Yorkshire Coast Levy Payers Association campaigners to stop the Yorkshire Coast BID by' Voting No'. Pictured (left to right) Matthew Kay, (Sub Postmaster), Harry Scott, (Managing Director at the Delmont Hotel), and Max Sini, (Managing Director of Florios Pizzeria Restaurant). Picture By Yorkshire Post Photographer, James Hardisty. Date:

After complaints about block voting, North Yorkshire and East Riding councils are abstaining, with the ballot outsourced to Civica.

If it goes through, businesses will pay £3.6m over five years, with the annual 1.5 per cent levy on their property's rateable value going up to two per cent.

Campaigners for a no vote say the inclusion of "businesses" like GCHQ, which operates a satellite ground station at Irton Moor, on the outskirts of Scarborough, are mystifying, as well as the WeBuyAnyCar pod on Seamer Road, Scarborough. Also on the list, which includes cafes, pubs, hotels, and holiday parks, with rateable values of £12,001 and above, are four wireless sites and a BBC transmitting station on Oliver's Mount run by a Hampshire-based telecoms firm and two Vodaphone sites.

However premises classed as gambling – such as amusement arcades – and retail appear to have been largely excluded. The BID said they had taken account of “what delivered the best return for businesses” and feedback from members.

In a brochure sent to businesses, chair Clive Rowe-Evans says it is “more crucial than ever” to make visitors aware of what the coast has to offer and the levies had “enabled” 156 events. He said: “In the second term we commit to using the experiences we have gained over the last five years to invest in projects and initiatives that can provide you with the most tangible value”, citing projects like their ‘Route YC’ road trip as “just the starting point”.

The deputy manager of Cober Hill Hotel in Cloughton, David Somers, said the BID helped give them a broader perspective across the hospitality sector and Route YC had been “great in driving business towards us”.

However hotelier Harry Scott, restaurateur Max Sini and subpostmaster Matthew Kay, who have all refused to pay the levy, are leading a no campaign in Scarborough.

They claim the ballot is “selective”, “picking the businesses they think will get them over the line” and their businesses have not benefitted from the BID’s activities, which have “piggybacked” on events like the Goldwings parade.

Mr Scott, who runs the Delmont Hotel, faces a court hearing on June 7 over the unpaid levy. He said: “I pay my dues but this is over and above. It’s like taking £5,000 out the bank and dropping it down a hole – I’ve had no benefit whatsoever.”

The BID said they had raised over £100,000 for local charities and matched over £1.4m of their business funding to promote the coast. They hope members “make an informed decision and choose to vote to work together”.

Spy agency gets vote on whether tourism firm should continue