WET weather and grey skies are sparking a welcome boost for indoor tourist attractions in the Tavistock area, which this week reported a healthy stream of visitors.

Meadowlands pool has seen an increase in tourists and repeat visitors using its facilities recently. Coupled with its new timetable, some people have even had to wait for their swim.

Duty manager Dan Hayward said every swimming pool had a maximum load for safety reasons, which was 120 people for Meadowlands.

On one occasion recently there had been 120 in the pool at 2pm and 120 people waiting.

Mr Hayward said: 'It has been noticeably busy. Everyone gets a minimum of an hour in the pool and coloured armbands are issued on a first-come-first-served basis. We have had a few aggrieved customers who didn't understand the situation but we have had good comments as well.'

And at The Wharf in Tavistock, a combination of wet weather and box office smash hits like 'Mamma Mia' had attracted extra custom.

Owner Angela Court said Mamma Mia had been 'bound to sell' anyway, but they had put on extra showings as sessions had been sold out.

'The rain made a lot of difference to the Children's Theatre on Saturday in particular.

'The rain helped numbers attending and made an interesting afternoon's entertainment for the children,' she said.

Tavistock Pannier Market has seen continuous trade.

Deputy market reeve Mike Souttar said: 'Considering the retail downturn we've done better than a lot of markets, but Tavistock attracts people anyway, so if it is raining they look for somewhere indoors.'

Coach drivers were given an incentive to bring tourists, which helped the situation, said Mr Souttar, who added that traders reported a 'noticeable drop-off' when the sun shone.

At Buckland Abbey, tourist services manager Jonathan Cummins said that although overall this year visitor numbers were slightly down because of the credit crunch and other factors, the wet weather meant the abbey was now seeing more people flood through their gates.

'It's been fantastic for business,' he said.

'If the bad weather is continual it stops people coming to our area. But when there is fine weather with the bad it is good.

'If it is sunny people go to the beach, but when it rains they come to us,' Mr Cummins said.

Shona Owen, spokesperson for the National Trust in Devon and Cornwall, said the Trust's large houses were seeing huge numbers of tourists.

Those that were just outdoor venues were seeing fewer visitors with the exception of Lydford Gorge, which was bucking the trend.

'Lydford has been doing really well in the last two weeks, which is surprising.

'We think walkers are being pushed off the moors by the weather and as they still want to walk, they are coming to Lydford,' she said.

The High Moorland Visitor Centre at Princetown has also seen an increase in custom.

Information advisor Neil Handley said: 'People can spend 45 minutes to an hour here.

'The rain has certainly boosted indoor tourism.'

Mr Handley said last weekend, with the high quantity of rain, they had had a lot of people coming in for leaflets and visitor information on places around Dartmoor to visit and 'get inside'.

The centre, which has free admission, has interpretive displays providing an insight into Dartmoor and short films on the area, with a current exhibition on Dartmoor Farming.

And Mr Handley said despite the wet weather, plenty of people were still taking part in organised walks on the moor.

Dingles Fairground Heritage Centre has seen high visitor numbers for the last two Thursdays in particular.

Spokesman Guy Belshaw said both had been wet days and the centre had certainly been benefitting from the rainy weather.

And Tavistock Museum is also seeing a boost in visitor numbers.

Museum secretary Sue Davies said the past two weeks,which had been particularly wet, had seen an increase in those visiting the attraction, with a 50% split between tourists and more local residents.

The museum also targets coach companies to encourage more visitors.