LETTERS about Royal Ascot At York have referred to the negative impact of the demolition of the old Ashfield School/York Sixth Form College site on the corner of Sim Balk Lane.

As the principal of York College, I apologise to racegoers and residents for any inconvenience or embarrassment which may have been caused by the demolition.

The timing, while unfortunate, was determined by the needs of students whose studies we were not prepared to disrupt in the run-up to examinations (meaning demolition work could not begin until June 6) and the need to have the site ready for building work in August if we are to meet a very tight building timetable.

The college fully supported Royal Ascot at York and is well aware of the importance of this event to the city. In liaison with the council and the organisers of Royal Ascot, York College has done much to accommodate the event.

For example, in order to ease traffic congestion we rearranged the college year so students were given study leave and only came into college if they had examinations. Buses were redirected on to the college's Tadcaster Road site, rather than clogging up the main route into the racecourse.

Also, the college enabled access across its land without which racegoers would have been unable to reach temporary racecourse car parking. We congratulate the council, North Yorkshire Police, York Racecourse and the Royal Ascot organisers for their management of this event. The success of the meeting was down to outstanding teamwork.

Mike Galloway,

Principal,

York College,

Tadcaster Road, York.

Updated: 11:15 Wednesday, June 22, 2005