IMAGINE what York could have looked like if different planning decisions had been made over the years.

Now York residents can see what could have been at an exhibition showcasing architectural "turkeys" - plans that never made it off the drawing board.

Architects are being urged to dust off all those schemes that were given the thumbs down over the past few decades and submit them for use in an Unbuilt Yorkshire 1975 - 2000 exhibition.

Exhibition organisers believe that the York-that-never-was may become the reality of the future.

They say that some plans could be given a second chance if they prove to be old answers to modern problems.

Next month 25 schemes from across Yorkshire will be selected for the exhibition, which runs every Thursday evening in March at the Leeds Metropolitan University School of Architecture.

Chosen schemes will have models made of the plans, giving visitors a real sense of the design.

York-based architect Matthew Laverack said he had no old schemes to submit, but the one design he wished had never been passed by planners was Ryedale House in Piccadilly.

He said: "Nobody seems to know how that got through the planners. It's actually proposed to come down as part of the Coppergate scheme, which is one good thing about it.

" It's much worse than Stonebow House, which is the one most people moan about.

"More than likely people will breath a sigh of relief that these things didn't get built."

Ian Tod, of Allen Tod Architecture, who came up with the idea for the exhibition, said: "The projects on display will be a combination of schemes which never got off the ground - and those that changed so much between initial design and completion that they were different schemes.

"We hope this will stimulate that debate on design in the region and that people will comment on the missed opportunities and near-misses."

For details of how to submit the plans phone Jill Callighan at 0113 2449973.

Updated: 11:05 Wednesday, January 22, 2003