EVENING parking charges are slashed in York from tonight - and hundreds of residents have flocked to take advantage of the cheaper £1 rate.

Business chiefs are hoping that the lower fees, coupled with the new late-night Park & Ride service and Thursday's switch-on of the Christmas lights and launch of late-night shopping, will kick-start a new impetus in the campaign to develop a strong late-night economy.

Len Cruddas, chief executive of York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, says the proposals to light up the exteriors of York's most attractive historic buildings should also play a key role in getting people back into the city on an evening.

He says another key change is the removal of yellow lines banning evening parking in some city centre streets such as Fossgate, where evening businesses, such as restaurants, have complained that their trade has been badly affected.

City of York Council has been consulting the public over the past four days about the possibility of replacing yellow lines in some streets with metered parking.

Mr Cruddas is hoping that the full package of changes will lead to people, who pledged in the summer not to visit the city again because of having to pay up to £5 for an evening's parking, returning to York.

Adam Sinclair, chairman of York Chamber of Trade and also of York Business Pride, praised the greater convenience and simplification of the evening charges, saying: "This marks a great advance for the evening economy and accessibility of the city."

The high hourly charges, introduced by City of York Council because of severe financial pressures, were scrapped in September after more than 6,500 people backed the Evening Press's Stop the Highway Robbery campaign.

From 6pm tonight, non-residents will pay £2 for a whole evening's parking, while people with a Minster badge in their windscreen, proving that they live within the council's boundaries, will pay only £1. City of York Council said that since the Evening Press published a coupon last week to help readers apply for such a badge, it has received more than 400 of the coupons.

Other applications have also come in to the parking office in St Leonard's Place, and the authority expects more to be made as York motorists become increasingly aware of the significant savings they can make.

Updated: 10:36 Monday, November 22, 2004