A SELF-EMPLOYED maintenance engineer has called on City of York Council to allow some service vehicles into the city centre during pedestrian-only hours to carry out "urgent" work.

Peter Colley, 45, said access restrictions which prevent vehicles without special permits entering the area during some daytime hours were penalising his business.

He branded the situation as "ridiculous", and said a small city centre area could be set aside for the parking of service vehicles without affecting pedestrians or the shopping environment.

Mr Colley, of Chesney Fields, Acomb, said he has also been forced to stop using his high-sided work van because it cannot enter height-restricted council car parks.

"All I am saying to the council is all they have to do is set aside areas within the city centre specifically for service vehicles on urgent business," he said.

"The current regulations are causing a lot of problems for a small group of people such as myself."

Mr Colley, who has been working in York for 20 years, said parking restrictions increased congestion because service vehicles were taken on unnecessary extra journeys as drivers searched for spaces.

He asaid heavy tools and replacement parts could not be carried the potentially long distance between businesses and car parks and that not all repairs could be done outside of restricted hours.

Julie Hurley, City of York Council principal engineer, said a specific area for service vehicles would be difficult to enforce, although workers on "genuine emergencies" would always be given access.

She said: "It is always difficult to achieve a balance between creating a pleasant and safe shopping area and servicing businesses in the city centre.

"Anyone who needs to carry out unavoidable emergency work can contact the city centre office for special permission, which will allow them entry into the main retail areas in the case of an emergency."

Traffic is restricted from entering the city centre between the core hours of 11am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, 10.30am to 4.30pm on Saturdays and noon to 4.30pm on Sundays.

Updated: 09:43 Wednesday, January 08, 2003