RESTAURATEURS who say York's evening parking bans have badly affected trade have won a battle to have them lifted.

Council bosses have agreed to install seven parking meters in streets where double yellow lines were painted last year.

The meters will be brought in from car parks in Kent Street and the Barbican and will be put in Fossgate, Duncombe Place, Blake Street, Goodramgate, Walmgate West, Lendal and Stonebow.

Two further streets, Piccadilly and St Denys Road, could become "frequent user pass bays", until more parking meters become available.

The decision, made at a meeting yesterday, is major victory for restaurateurs in Fossgate, after initial plans that would have seen the changes to their street delayed.

It also marks another success for the Evening Press Stop The Highway Robbery Campaign, which called for evening parking charges and unnecessary yellow lines in the city centre to be scrapped.

Peter Evely, the council's head of network management, originally said in a report that the work should be done in phases as meters became free, with Walmgate West in phase one, and Fossgate in phase two.

The proposal sparked fury from Fossgate restaurant owners, who said their street had been one of the worst affected by the evening parking ban.

But the plans have now been changed so all selected streets will be given the new meters at about the same time.

Stuart Hall, who runs Tricksters restaurant and Mason's Bistro, in Fossgate, said the decision was "excellent" news.

But he urged the work to be done without delay, as parking restrictions were still chasing away valuable customers.

"It's a small step forward," he said. "But every day that goes by is damaging our business.

"They've got to get on and do it now."

The plans will allow evening parking between 6pm and 8am daily at a charge of £1 for residents with a Minster badge to prove residence in York, and £2 for everyone else.

Coun Ann Reid, planning chief, said: "We have been able to look at parking in a much more holistic way."

Councillors also agreed to give up to three free residents' parking permits to charities inside York's inner ring road which operate after 6pm.

"Yellow" lines - to be painted in cream in keeping with the city centre's conservation area - will be painted on paved streets, including Coney Street, to remind motorists that parking is forbidden there.

But further plans which would allow drivers to pay for parking tickets with a credit or debit card are not likely to come into force until May or June while manufacturers refine technology, the meeting heard.

Updated: 10:18 Wednesday, March 16, 2005