YORK council leaders have formally approved reduced tariffs for new on-street parking charges in Micklegate.

Members of City of York Council's ruling executive agreed yesterday that amended charges could be implemented in the area when the new ticket machines become operational on May 10.

Traders and churchgoers had been up in arms over plans to introduce on street parking in the area, claiming that it would be turned into a ghost street.

At the start of last month, councillors conceded that Micklegate had special circumstances and brought in a 20p per half hour charge, for the first hour of parking.

It also ditched the on-street charges between 8am and 1pm on Sundays so that people attending the area's churches could park and worship for free.

Council leader Steve Galloway told executive members: "We worked very hard to find a solution that was acceptable."

The impact of new charges will be reviewed in six months time, and the findings used in future decisions on parking elsewhere in York.

Council officers will look at the effect the new charges have on businesses in the area as well as the parking times of motorists.

Coun Galloway said: "It will certainly tell us a lot if lower charges increase the turnover of individual spaces. It might give us some valuable information that we can use elsewhere."

Updated: 10:39 Wednesday, April 07, 2004