SUNDAY services travelling on York's Park&Ride routes are finally set to start motoring later this month.

Bosses at bus company First have pencilled in a start date of July 21 for buses to serve three of the city's main Park&Ride lines.

That will mean visitors to York and residents will be able to travel on services to and from Rawcliffe, Grimston Bar and Askham Bar.

First commercial manager Peter Edwards said he was delighted the service was about to start after it was originally delayed.

Sunday Park&Ride had been due to begin on June 2, but had to be delayed because of a shortage of volunteers and changes to union agreements.

No one told York Tourism Bureau which printed 800,000 copies of a mini-guide bearing the wrong date.

Bosses at First see the extension of Park&Ride to Sunday as a further development in the expansion of the successful service.

Alongside the four main Park&Ride routes another three are planned at Monks Cross, Wigginton, serving York District Hospital, and on the A59.

Last week, the Evening Press also reported embryonic proposals for an eighth Park&Ride site - on green belt land in Acomb.

Park&Ride is City of York Council's preferred means of reducing the number of cars, and therefore traffic congestion, in busy streets.

Mr Edwards said: "Starting on Sunday, July 21, the Park&Ride will operate between 10am and 6pm.

"The designer line will not be used by the service. Obviously, we are disappointed with the 'false start'.

"But we are now glad to have got this in time for the school holidays. We believe that, as a destination, York is becoming a seven-day city.

"As Park&Ride is really an element of that, we are pleased to be able to launch our Sunday service.

"We hope this will alleviate some of the parking problems that have arisen in the city on a Sunday."

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of York Tourism Bureau, said she was delighted to hear of the new Sunday start date.

Updated: 11:40 Monday, July 01, 2002