A BLOCK is set to be placed on new pavement cafés opening in one of York’s busiest squares after council bosses ruled there was no more space available.

Proposals by a city centre pub to set up an outdoor refreshment spot in St Sampson’s Square have been approved, taking the tally of open-air cafés in the area to four.

But City of York Council has now said any further similar applications will have to be turned down for at least the next 12 months due to a lack of space in the square.

The latest request was made by the owners of the Three Cranes pub, whose pavement café will now add to those already operated by department store Brown’s of York, the Roman Bath and Pizza Express, but their arrival will mean the three existing outlets have slightly less space to work with.

A report on the St Sampson’s Square café set-up which went before the council’s city strategy directorate said: “Due to an increased demand for pavement cafés to operate on the square, it has become necessary for the area to be distributed more evenly among the businesses who have expressed an interest in obtaining a licence.

“At other locations throughout the city centre, individual planning consent has been issued for pavement cafés as they are all situated directly outside the premises who will be operating the café.

“However, this approach is not possible in St Sampson’s Square itself as it is not directly outside the properties.”

Officers also said conditions of licences to run the cafés, which mean when events are taking place in the square, the operators of the pavement have to wait until the necessary equipment is arranged before putting out their tables and chairs if the council asks them to, should be kept.

Other options considered by the authority following the Three Cranes’ application were to continue looking at café requests on an individual basis and revoking all the current licences.