SHOPKEEPERS claim they are losing business because of a lack of parking at York Hospital.

Elderly and disabled customers are being prevented from parking outside shops in Clifton because hospital workers are leaving their cars outside them all day, according to local business owners.

Now councillors are hoping to impose parking restrictions in the area, after long-running plans for a new car park at the hospital were delayed by another year.

Alistair Murray, who owns the Crichton Avenue Post Office, said: "This situation is not helpful to customers who have difficulty moving around and really need to be able to park outside shops.

"It has got worse in the last six months.

"People should show more consideration for those who have difficulty moving about. The trouble is, the area is becoming known as a place where you can park for free."

Pharmacist Peter White, who runs Burton Pharmacy, in Intake Avenue, said: "We used to get a lot of passing trade because of the convenience of parking.

"That has lessened, and some of my regular customers say they haven't been able to park, so they have been taking their trade somewhere easier to park, like Tesco at Clifton Moor.

"There are a lot of elderly people living in the area, many of whom are disabled, and the only way they can get out is by car so, if they can't park outside their local shops, they are stuck.

"People who work at the hospital are parking outside because we're only about half a mile away.

"It's not just immediately in front of the shops, but down side streets as well."

He has written to local councillors asking for parking restrictions to be put in place.

Coun Ken King visited the shops yesterday to assess the situation.

He said: "It appears that staff from the hospital are parking there, going off to work, and leaving their cars all day.

"I have a lot of sympathy for the shopkeepers, but they aren't breaking any laws. But I can understand why people who normally use the shops would drive past and go elsewhere.

"I am aware of the problem, and will do everything I can to try and resolve it. It may be that we can put parking restrictions in place to stop people staying there all day."

In January, the Evening Press reported the hospital's traffic nightmare was set to continue well into 2007, after it emerged long-running plans for a new car park had been delayed by another year.

Managers first raised ideas for a £1.4 million multi-storey car park in 1997, after a health review highlighted the shortage of parking at the Wigginton Road site.

But Danny Morgan, director of facilities at York Hospital, said: "The multi-storey car park will be for patients and visitors, not staff, and that really is the ongoing problem. We simply don't have enough space."

He said the hospital had a travel plan with the council, offering incentives to employees who used alternative forms of transport, and had the highest rate of cyclists of any employer in the city.

He said he would also like to see the hospital become part of the city's Park&Ride bus routes.

Updated: 11:10 Wednesday, March 22, 2006