YORK Tourism Bureau has refused to back the Coppergate Riverside proposals because of concerns about the sheer scale of the retail development and its impact on historic York.

The bureau also believes more should be done to enhance York's attractiveness as a cultural and heritage centre - as it says happened when the original Coppergate Centre was built. It suggests that a new cultural asset such as a gallery should be built in place of the proposed department store.

But a senior City of York Council officer has warned that, if the site between Clifford's Tower and Piccadilly is NOT developed when there is a clear demand for larger shops in York, significant pressure will grow for further out-of-town shopping developments.

Roy Templeman, director of environment and development services, says that such developments, which the planning authority would find difficult to resist, would have a major effect on existing city centre shops.

And he told the Evening Press that if there was not an investment in quality shops in the centre of York, it was likely the city would lose ground with other towns and cities in the region.

The comments came as Evening Press readers started returning coupons, published in yesterday's paper, asking for their views on Land Securities' £60 million retail scheme.

The tourism bureau has previously spoken of the importance of York as a shopping destination in the battle to attract tourists to the city.

But in a letter to the council, its chief executive, Gillian Cruddas, says directors of the bureau are not at present able to support the project.

"We are concerned about the size of the development and the detrimental effect this may have on other areas," she said. "We are not convinced that 250,000 square feet of retail space is a necessary improvement to the York retail product and it is felt that the current plans present an imbalanced scheme. We are also concerned that the sheer scale of this could damage the historic areas of York."

For our assessment of the economic pros and cons of the scheme, the views of York shoppers and a look back at what happened when the original Coppergate Centre was proposed