PARISH councillors claim the council "misled" residents on a proposed nine-hectare Park & Ride site at Monks Cross.

Officers are urging City of York Council's planning committee next Thursday to approve the scheme, subject to a number of conditions.

But Huntington Parish Council members say they are angry because public consultation documents stated the site would accommodate only 750 vehicles.

Since then a larger proposal for 1,160 vehicles, including an overspill car park for Huntington Stadium, an open space, access roads and landscaping, has been put forward.

In a letter to the authority, parish councillors said the later change "could have had the effect of leading the public to accept the proposal" and that they strongly objected to the plans.

They also said the facilitywould have a "tremendous impact" on nearby properties and increased traffic along Malton Road, Jockey Lane and New Lane, which were already overburdened.

Residents would suffer increased noise, light and air pollution, they added, as traffic is pulled out of the city centre and people visiting the New Lane cemetery would be affected by noise and fumes.

But development control officer Rachel Kitson said householders did have the opportunity to make comments on the present proposal and the development would have "relatively little" impact on cemetery visitors.

She said a further consultation, as requested by the parish council, would not add any value to the information council officers had already collected.

The Park & Ride site would be built on land to the south of Huntington Stadium and would include a coach park, toilet facilities, waiting area, office and store as well as an area of informal open space.

The application also includes the construction of an access road from the Malton Road "Leedhams" roundabout, a bus only link from the site to Kathryn Avenue and a combined footpath and cycleway westwards towards New lane.

Updated: 12:20 Saturday, December 14, 2002