RESIDENTS who fought plans to place a rising bollard in a local road were celebrating victory today.

Transport chiefs agreed to drop the proposal to site York's second "intelligent" bollard in Straylands Grove, Heworth, after it prompted a wave of local opposition.

This came to a head last night, when it was standing room only in the city's Guildhall as councillors debated the fate of the controversial traffic control scheme.

Residents - the majority of them against the plans - crammed into a committee room to hear the debate.

City of York Council's head of network management, Peter Evely, was heckled as he demonstrated how the bollard - like that in Stonebow - could stop Straylands Grove being turned into a "rat run" by motorists seeking a short cut between Malton Road and Stockton Lane.

Mr Evely used a computer simulation of what traffic flows might be like in ten years, when approved plans for housing and business in the area would be in place.

Coun Chris Hogg said: "If these predictions are correct it's going to be quite a nightmare in ten years time and really we should be looking to public transport solutions to try and solve the problem."

Objector Jean Frost, of Elm Park Way, who helped organise an independent residents' survey, said a clear majority of residents polled - 253 - were against the bollard, with only 140 in favour.

This was contrary to a postal survey conducted by the council last November, which claimed 70 per cent of residents in streets immediately around Straylands Grove supported the bollard.

Objector Chris Bibby, of Straylands Grove, said: "Listen to the voice of the people. Have you ever had so many letters of objection? I very much doubt it.

"If you are serious about local democracy you should object to this."

Chris Rutherford, a resident who supported the plan, said residents already experienced problems with queuing traffic. The situation looked set to get much worse in the near future if something was not done about it.

The executive member for planning and transport, Coun Ann Reid, said the plans were perhaps premature.

She said: "This certainly has been a controversial proposal and travel routes are always controversial.

"It hasn't been entirely one-sided and I think there is a case to answer, but perhaps not quite yet."

After more than an hour of debate, councillors voted to accept that the objections were valid - and abandon the order.

Speaking afterwards, Mrs Frost said: "We can open the champagne now! Obviously there's been a huge amount of feeling against this and I am just pleased that it looks as though the councillors have been listening."

Heworth ward councillor Coun Viv Kind said: "I have been on the council for ten years, and I can remember few local issues which have generated such opposition from locals."

Updated: 09:53 Thursday, April 07, 2005