The idea is to make visitors and residents feel more welcome

The customer care training course was aimed at making them more confident in dealing with tourists.

Councillor Paul James said: "This will make visitors, as well as residents, feel welcome.

"A friendly city will encourage more people to return. That can only be good news for the local economy."

It is the latest in a series of moves to bring more visitors to Gloucester.

The tourism information centre recently published a city guide in Japanese after hundreds of requests from the Far East.

And a nocturnal cleaning team was put into action at weekends to steam and scrub streets and clear them of litter.