THE huge task facing City of York Council as it attempts to avoid Ascot traffic hell was today laid bare as it emerged that rows with the police and cab drivers hit the three-day trial run.

A leaked document from a highways chief sent to all councillors revealed the council generally received "nothing but abuse and foul language" from cabbies over road restrictions.

Peter Evely, head of network management, said the main response from drivers was "they will go where they like, pick up where they like and drop off where they like." They were going "everywhere except where they should" - driving over footways, verges and removing barriers in the permit-only South Bank.

In the document which was sent to all councillors, Mr Evely also states he "fell out" with senior police about whether punters leaving Knavesmire car parks should get priority over commuters.

He said police were adamant they had to get car parks emptied quickly to prevent public order problems.

This resulted in about four race cars leaving car parks for every car that moved forward on the road.

Mr Evely said: "That resulted in 20-25 minute delays to traffic travelling the few yards from Dalton Terrace to Knavesmire gates.

"I regret to say that the local police commander and I fell out over this policy and I went over his head, only to have the same policy confirmed to me by the superintendent in charge of the whole operation."

Flows improved when two separate lanes were introduced on Thursday on to Tadcaster Road, in a system the council said worked well.

York police today denied any disagreement.

Operations Superintendent Alison Higgins, who led the police operation, said: "Nobody has fallen out with each other."

She denied they wanted punters to leave the racecourse quickly, stressing it stayed open some time after the last races finished. She said: "It's all about identifying all the issues around the racecourse and the public safety of our roads.

"Everything we have learned over the last few days will help with the smooth transition of the traffic management and policing next year."

Streamline Taxis director Mark Wilson said it turned away up to 70 bookings, worth £10 each on average, while waiting for council guidance on access.

He said: "Even though private hire drivers make up 80 per cent of the city's taxis, the council have not been in touch with us. This mistake has cost us a lot of money.

"We spent two hours waiting for a decision that never arrived. We were worried that if we used the wrong pick-up places we could face enforcement action." Bill Woolley, the council's acting director of environment and development, said: "There are often differences of opinion between organisations working together and that can often help to improve plans as we try to find ways round the difficulties.

"The council is not in a position to judge police needs to manage public disorder and we recognise that. By the end of the trial, both organisations had agreed a new scheme to deal with traffic leaving Knavesmire car parks, which was a huge success when it was put into operation on Thursday evening.

"We are looking forward to working closely with the police to ensure that plans for Royal Ascot at York work as well as possible."

Updated: 09:54 Saturday, August 21, 2004