A group of these were from a male choir who had to call off a charity performance because so many members were sick.

Other guests have become so ill they have not been able to return home and have had to stay behind – confined to their rooms.

Hotel bosses believe guests have been hit by Norovirus – also known as Norwalk-like virus – the most common cause of infectious gastroenteritis in England and Wales.

Hotel staff are now disinfecting all the rooms, public spaces, toilets, and keys, with a special anti-virus fogging machine to try and eradicate the illness which is believed to be airborn or passed on through contact with surfaces.

A spokesman for Britannia Hotels, which owns the hotel, said only one guest was left with the illness in the hotel as of yesterday morning.

The spokesman said: “The disinfection operation has been ongoing since our first case on Friday morning. We are working closely with Scarborough Council’s environmental health officers and they are perfectly satisfied with everything we are doing.”

It is believed the virus was brought into the hotel by a guest who may have initially passed on the illness while on a coach.

It is the second time this year the hotel has been plagued by illness.

In March nearly 60 people were affected by Norwalk virus, and in 2004 and 2002 the hotel shut after guests were struck down with sickness and diarrhoea.

The hotel has become increasingly concerned about the frequency of the virus and has now bought its own sanitising equipment so staff can tackle the situation immediately. In the past, the hotel had used an outside contractor to blitz the hotel with anti-viral spray.

Bosses at Britannia have said the recurrence of the illness could be damaging the hotel’s reputation, and described the latest incident as “unfortunate”.

Among the guests struck down with the virus was probation officer, Paul Schofield, who came to the Grand Hotel from Derbyshire with work colleagues. Speaking to the Evening News from his bedroom at the hotel he said: “I am confined