A LOCAL resident felt trapped in Heslington village when trying to attend a York 50+ Festival event on Sunday, October 8 – she simply couldn’t cross the Plusnet Yorkshire Marathon cordon.

She has ME which limits her energy and she finds noise and stressful situations a huge challenge.

Not having had a map and closure times posted through her letterbox, despite living close to the marathon route, she went in search of more information and was given a black and white map which, as the times of closure were colour coded, was useless.

With the complexity of closures, she wasn’t up to making the journey by bicycle.

From home she tried to order a taxi for the afternoon event which started at 1.30pm at the Art Gallery: the event was Art For Wellbeing.

The taxi firm said it would take them up to 90 minutes to find their way to Heslington and the journey back to the Art Gallery would be equally fraught – not worth the fortune it would cost.

In the early afternoon she walked to the bus stop. After 10 minutes, the crowd increasing and no bus in sight, this resident went home totally drained and gave up.

She’d tried her best and failed to escape from the prison of the village.

How can City of York Council and Plusnet ensure that the people of York, especially those who are disabled, can still access the city from the surrounding villages?

Sue Lister, Former York 50+ Festival co-ordinator, Dunnington, York