MORE car parking spaces are set to be lost in York city centre if the Barbican Centre redevelopment goes ahead, the Evening Press can reveal today.

Coaches unable to use the Kent Street coach park - where the new community swimming pool is planned - are likely to be diverted to St George's Field car park.

This will result in the loss of up to 170 parking spaces - 40 per cent of the car park's 420 capacity - from a popular parking location for car-borne shoppers.

The 120-space Barbican car park is also due to shut as part of the redevelopment scheme, and a simultaneous reduction in the size of the Kent Street car park will lead to the loss of another 120 spaces.

Other city centre car parking has also disappeared recently in York, including 400 spaces at Heworth Green and 170 at the former NCP park in Skeldergate.

However, City of York Council says it was confident there would still be enough city centre parking to meet demand on the vast majority of days.

Bill Woolley, assistant director development and transport, said that after taking Park&Ride into account - including the 750-space site which opened at Monks Cross this summer - motorists were being provided with more rather than fewer parking spaces.

He also said that, following the installation of new electronic variable message signs across the city, motorists can easily find their way to car parks where spaces are still available.

Officers were also attempting to make the parking arrangements at St George's Field flexible, so that some of the 170 spaces would still be available to cars when coach numbers were low.

He said the arrangements would be a major improvement to coach-borne visitors to York, giving them a shorter, much more pleasant walk into town along the riverside path.

Kay Hyde, PR manager for York Tourism Bureau, said today that the recent decrease in city centre car parking spaces was of concern. "Shoppers clearly need somewhere to park and, whilst we very much endorse the improvements that are continuing to our Park&Ride services, we would not wish to see city centre car parking spaces reduced further."

But she said the coach market was also very important to the city and, if alternative spaces could be found for shoppers and some flexibility introduced into the proposals for St George's Field, she felt this would be a "good solution" for coach operators coming into York.

Adam Sinclair, chairman of York Chamber of Trade, said he was keen to ensure city centre parking was maintained, and he would be concerned if the move was part of a concerted drive to reduce parking capacity.

However, he understood that the proposals were driven instead by the Barbican scheme, and he understood the need for new conferencing and leisure facilities, and the need for flexibility.

The council has confirmed that parts of the Barbican, including the gym and soft play area, will remain open until the end of July, two months longer than originally thought.

But it says the pools and treatment rooms will close on June 7 to allow decommissioning work to start - a decision which will infuriate the campaign group Save Our Barbican, which has called for the pools to stay open until it is known if the centre's redevelopment is going ahead.

Updated: 10:39 Friday, March 26, 2004