SCAFFOLDERS have been banned from working on buildings near Knavesmire during Royal Ascot at York because of security concerns, the Evening Press can reveal.

Council chiefs in the city have confirmed they will not be issuing any licences for scaffold or skip work as they look to ensure the security of York Racecourse during the five-day festival of racing next month.

A City of York Council spokeswoman said the move was also to make sure that large numbers of pedestrian traffic were not hindered as they tried to move to and from the racecourse during the event.

With the Queen and other members of the Royal family expected on each day of racing, security will be extremely tight.

North Yorkshire Police, Special Branch and council chiefs have been working together on safety measures for the Royal party.

City scaffolding firms said today they had received the letter, but would not be drawn on the implications for their businesses.

But a spokesman at the National Association of Scaffolding Contractors (NASC) said the security concerns seemed to be a "fairly tenuous argument".

A City of York Council spokeswoman said: "We have contacted local scaffolding firms about this and it's a step that we have taken for security reasons and also to ensure that pedestrian traffic can move freely in the vicinity of the racecourse.

"We have been speaking to scaffolding firms about this and are not issuing any licences for the use of scaffolding or skips on the streets in the immediate vicinity of the racecourse for the duration of Ascot.

"Any firms that are not sure which areas are included are welcome to call the council to discuss their project further."

At the NASC, a spokesman said: "It seems a very harsh thing to do, and there will be a wider issue for contractors as well.

"Quite often, when there is an event in London, a contract may ask scaffolders to take work down and put it back up after the event, but we have not heard of anything like this before."

Updated: 10:14 Wednesday, June 01, 2005