RESIDENTS were kept in the dark on Royal Ascot traffic plans, angry councillors claimed today.

Concerned South Bank residents last week quizzed council chiefs at a Micklegate ward committee meeting on how the Ascot race day masterplan would tackle traffic chaos.

But three days after the meeting it was announced that City of York Council was considering opening the riverside Terry Avenue to taxis.

"Outraged" Labour leader Dave Merrett said this was never mentioned at a meeting which he said provided "very little" detailed information about the council's plans.

He said: "We've been struggling from day one to ensure residents are informed and involved as plans for Royal Ascot take shape. We hoped the ward committee would be an ideal opportunity for the council to let the community know what was planned - but we actually got very little information out of the meeting. I was outraged to discover that - at the time of our meeting - plans for opening Terry Avenue must have already been under discussion, but this was kept from residents."

Fellow Micklegate councillor Dave Evans said: "Many concerned residents came along to our ward committee meeting because they want to know what is going to happen when Ascot comes to York.

"Instead they were kept in the dark about plans as significant as reopening a local closed road." A City of York Council spokeswoman said: "The traffic management plan has evolved over two years and during this time officers have attended ward committees to discuss proposals for Royal Ascot at York with residents.

"At last week's meeting, the council's acting director for environment and development, Bill Woolley, said three different options had been put forward by the taxi operators and that it was hoped that one of the options could be used, but no definite decision had been taken at that stage."

Updated: 08:33 Wednesday, March 09, 2005