BENCH arms dubbed "anti homeless bars" will not be removed from bus stops in York despite a petition signed by more then 5,000 people.

Yesterday two senior councillors agreed to follow the advice of council staff and keep the bars, rather than fulfil the wishes of petitioners who wanted to bench arms removed so that rough sleepers would not be driven into darker and more isolated parts of the city.

Richard Bridge, who organised the petition, told Cllrs David Carr and Ian Gillies at the decision session yesterday there had not been proper engagement with people over the issue, and asked them to defer the decision.

He also said a written report on the petition focused on the provisions the council makes for homeless people and does not acknowledge that fact that rough sleeping is a different issue - and displacing rough sleepers through defensive architecture like bench arms has an impact.

But Cllr Carr said the bars were not an "anti homeless" device, rather a mobility aid for older people. He added: "It is a duty of ours to make sure older people can use our street equipment safely.

"Some unfortunate individuals do seem to have a lifestyle choice of rough sleeping and street drinking, and they are a vulnerable. However there are other vulnerable groups and they include older people, lone women, and children, all of whom use that Rougier Street bus stop and many of whom feel intimidated and repelled by the substances they often find deposited at the bus stops."

The council has enough hostel accommodation and works hard to help street drinkers and rough sleepers, he added, meaning there was no excuse for "very small minority" to continue affecting the very great majority who use the Rougier Street bus stops.