LORD Halifax's cheery, open-house invitation to Royal Ascot will set York residents reminiscing about Knavesmire's previous crowd-pullers.

The race committee chairman's estimated capacity of 200,000 is undeniably accurate.

On a May Bank Holiday 22 years ago, 210,000 people gathered at Knavesmire to see Pope John Paul II.

Those with longer memories will recall the similar number who poured in to the racecourse to watch the relocated 1945 St Leger, a special celebration as it was the first race meeting in peace time.

Both were tremendous celebrations for the city, just as Royal Ascot should be. Perhaps Lord Halifax had these earlier events in mind when making his comments: contemporary fears that they would cause chaos proved to be unfounded.

Of course, they were undertaken in very different circumstances. The present day race committee cannot call on the free labour of German prisoners of war, for example, as happened before the St Leger.

More pertinently, the amount of road traffic was negligible in 1945, and significantly less in 1982.

While Lord Halifax is right to view Royal Ascot as a carnival which all York should relish, it cannot be allowed to bring the city to a standstill - particularly as the eyes of the world will be on us that week.

We need a balance between maximising the opportunity, enjoying it to the full and enabling those not involved to go about their business.

There are lessons to be learned from both the St Leger and the Papal visit on the use of public transport and traffic orders.

Ultimately, however, the police and council must make a judgement on Royal Ascot numbers based on what modern York can safely sustain.

Updated: 11:29 Wednesday, May 05, 2004