No area of York's leisure sector is safe from the cuts being sought with increasing desperation by City of York Council. First the city's physical recreation is threatened, with the proposal to ditch at least one of the swimming pools. Now a price is to be put on our cultural life.

The council plans to do away with the long tradition of free admission to the York City Art Gallery. If councillors approve the measure, non-residents will be charged £2 a visit.

This is a deeply disappointing move. It abandons the principle that art is for all. And it goes against the Government-supported trend to remove admission charges where possible, which saw the National Railway Museum in York scrap charges for children last year.

Councillors will be tempted to approve the imposition of fees as it is likely to be one of the least contentious cutbacks, particularly as it will only bash tourists, not residents.

That argument is misguided. Tourist bosses are already reeling this week from the loss of the Viking Festival boat-burning ceremony and the planned closure of the York Story. Another visitor-bashing measure is the last thing they need.

Moreover, this move will not just hit tourists. Those who work in York but live outside the council's boundaries will be less inclined to visit the gallery once they are charged for the privilege. The subsequent drop in visitor numbers will soon eat into the council's projected £50,000 revenue.

Everyone, whatever their means, should have equal access to the York art collection. Many of the artworks on show were given to the city on this understanding. To introduce charges, therefore, would be unprincipled and wrong.

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