I ARRANGED to meet a friend for lunch in York on Wednesday, August 18, something we do every six to eight weeks. I try to park at Castle Mills car park when I can, but this time a young man met me at the gate.

He asked if I was a resident at the Great Western hotel next door. I said no. He said I could park on the right-hand side of the car park only because the other spaces were reserved for hotel guests.

After driving round the car park trying to find a parking space, I finally found a cramped slot in the corner of the car park. There were several spaces free but "numbered up" for guests of the hotel. When I asked if this was a situation just introduced for the races he told me Great Western had leased about 50 spaces from City of York Council because there were no parking facilities at the hotel.

Why were Great Western Hotels allowed to build a new hotel within the city walls without allocating parking facilities within their building plans, especially given the dreadful parking situation already facing York residents?

Does the City of York Council wish to push all residents - council taxpayers - out of the city completely?

Without the continued support of local residents York will become just a tourist centre. Is the hotel now being built at the top of Coney Street also going to lease car parking spaces in, say, Castle car park, or have the council insisted that parking facilities be included in their building plans?

Eve Hale,

Wheldrake Lane,

Crockey Hill, York.

Updated: 10:07 Thursday, August 26, 2004