Mike Laycock looks back at our campaign against York's new parking charges and restrictions, which has gathered support from across the community.

I HAVE organised a fair number of Evening Press campaigns over the years, but cannot recall one ever generating such passionate support - and indeed such anger - as Stop The Highway Robbery.

Landlords, shopkeepers and restaurateurs, leaders of the voluntary sector, charity organisers, operatic and dramatic societies, and plain ordinary motorists have all united in strong opposition to evening parking charges and the associated rash of new yellow lines in city centre streets. There have also been many complaints about the size of daytime parking fees.

From the day the campaign was launched, it has been a struggle to keep up with all the protest letters and emails raining in on the paper.

The timeline chart here shows how the story grew over July and August, with more and more organisations and prominent individuals supporting the campaign. There was also a stormy public meeting and a noisy lobby of councillors as they were meeting at Guildhall. Every day, the post would bring more petition forms and coupons to our offices, while others gave their support online.

If City of York councillors ever believed that the protests would simply fizzle out over time, and that residents would eventually come to accept the charges, this has probably proved a rude awakening.

Updated: 10:58 Tuesday, September 07, 2004