A DEAL with York College will see staff use York’s latest and emptiest Pay & Display car park.

As The Press reported last month, City of York Council is charging drivers £4 on a 24-hour flat rate to park at the 500-space Moor Lane car park, which was formerly the Askham Bar Park & Ride site and free to park.

The council said at the time it was exploring options on what to do with the car park, following the recent opening of the larger Park & Ride service on the other side of the nearby Tesco store.

Now the local authority has been approached by the principal at York College, Dr Alison Birkinshaw, for college staff to use 50 spaces at a flat rate of £2 per day from July 7 - August 31 while works take place at the college.

As previously reported, the current car park has been left mostly empty after the decision to charge drivers, with most opting to use the free Park & Ride site next door.

One motorists, Walter Bullen, from Harrogate, drove in to the new Pay & Display car park to find out how much was being charged - and then drove straight out again.

He branded the charge “atrocious”, asking: “Why would anyone pay £4 when they can park for free at the Park & Ride site?”

Cllr Chris Steward claimed the charges were “absolutely ridiculous", and said that when people were told about them at a meeting in Copmanthorpe recently, the news was greeted with “riots of laughter".