HORSE-DRAWN carriage operators in York will not be forced to put "nappies" on their animals after councillors agreed to continue a voluntary code of conduct which has cleaned up the city streets.

City of York Council's licensing and regulatory committee ruled that compulsory use of devices known as "dung catchers" on the four horses which use half-a-mile of pedestrian streets was like "using a sledgehammer to crack a nut".

Carriage operators and street cleaners will instead observe a voluntary code of conduct, after a successful three-month trial saw no registered complaints about horse dung, compared with 27 over the same period last year.

The cost of collection of horse dung has also fallen from almost £6,000 a year to about £2,300 as a result of the new measures.

Carriage operator Brian Calam said he believed the row had now come to "a sensible conclusion". He said: "The streets are cleaner than they have ever been."

He and fellow operators had argued that use of the dung catchers as an additional part of their horses' tack could compromise the welfare of the animals.

Mr Calam also said the operators had built up a good relationship with the city's street cleaners.

Updated: 09:21 Saturday, November 08, 2003