YORK'S Park & Ride scheme has clocked up a whacking 23 per cent increase in passenger numbers, new figures revealed today.

City of York Council said more than 200,000 people a month were now using the service, bringing visitors into the city centre while helping to reduce congestion.

The figures were published in the wake of Evening Press revelations that fewer motorists were parking in city centre car parks, with revenue in April and May down by almost five per cent on the same two months last year.

One critic warned earlier this week that the authority might no longer be able to rely on ever-increasing income from parking fees to help keep council tax rises down.

And some traders said they were concerned that parking charges - which were hiked in short-stay car parks to £2 an hour in April - were deterring motorists, who might shop elsewhere instead.

But the council said the figures were not comparing like with like, because of factors such as Easter falling in March this year, and it insisted that many shoppers are simply using Park & Ride instead, particularly following the opening of the Monks Cross scheme last summer.

"It (Park & Ride) plays a key role because of the way that it eases congestion, whilst at the same time making it affordable and practical for visitors to reach city centre shops and attractions," said a spokeswoman.

The new statistics show that in May, about 212,000 passengers used Park & Ride, compared with 174,000 in May last year.

In April, there were 207,000, compared with 167,000 in the same month in 2004.

Council leader Steve Galloway said that the continued growth in usage, coupled with First's bus services, continued to give York residents and visitors an "affordable, congestion-busting alternative" to driving into the city centre.

He said: "Figures show a 23 per cent increase in Park & Ride passengers in the current financial year alone - representing an additional 78,000 potential customers for City Centre retailers and businesses.

"For the first time, Park & Ride passenger numbers are consistently in excess of 200,000 each month bringing hopes that a year total record 2.5 million passengers will use the service before next March."