RESIDENTS who are up in arms over plans to site an "intelligent bollard" in a York street are to lobby councillors tonight.

They are due to gather at the Heworth Ward Committee meeting at Tang Hall Primary School at 5.30pm to raise concerns about the proposal for Straylands Grove.

Many claim they have not been consulted about the scheme, which is intended to stop the road being used as a "rat run".

The electronic bollard, costing about £60,000, is designed to stop cars using the road as a cut through between Malton Road and Stockton Lane, by only allowing through residents holding a valid permit.

Residents living in properties between Malton Road and Stockton Lane were consulted by City of York Council on the plans last year, and 70 per cent of those who replied were in favour of the bollard, which could be in place by next summer.

But residents immediately outside the area consulted, as well as some within, are vehemently opposed to the bollard, and claim it will only increase congestion in the area around Stockton Lane and Hopgrove Lane.

York's first intelligent bollard, installed in Stonebow in 2000, has been beset by problems. Last September the Evening Press reported how the bollard let through any vehicle that approached, and only two weeks ago it damaged an ambulance and injured the driver.

At tonight's meeting, Elizabeth Gallagher-Coates, and her husband, John Coates, from Lime Avenue, are to voice their complaints.

Mrs Gallagher-Coates, 43, said she did not know many people who had been asked by the council about the plans.

She said: "They have a right to be consulted. There is a very active group in Straylands that wants something done. If they have a done a fair consultation then fair enough, but it just seems to be the section running between Straylands and Malton Road that were consulted."

Malcolm Sunderland, the parish clerk for Heworth Without Parish Council, also opposes the bollard. He claims congestion will simply increase around the already busy roundabout at the end of Stockton Lane.

In a letter to the council he says: "The majority of people who use Straylands Grove as a through road are not 'rat-runners' who live outside the area, but locals who live in the immediate area around Stockton Lane. The blocking of Straylands Grove will cause great inconvenience to these people and will add to the congestion elsewhere."

A spokesperson for the city council said the consultation process had been decided last September by the executive member advisory panel for planning and transport.

She said: "Whilst the council does accept that people in the wider area use Straylands Grove and will therefore be affected by the bollards, members were keen that the residents of the estate themselves should be consulted on an issue that directly affects the environment in which they live," she said.

Updated: 10:24 Monday, February 07, 2005