YORK'S horse-drawn carriage drivers claim a new council bollards policy outside York Minster is "potentially lethal".

The city's four coachmen, who take tourists on tours through the city's historic streets, reacted with fury when council highways chiefs permanently locked a detachable bollard outside the Cathedral's west entrance.

It could previously be moved by the drivers, who claim there is now not a safe amount of room to negotiate their way through.

Council chiefs, who have promised to review the situation, took the decision to stop people illegally removing it to get their vehicles in.

"It's an accident waiting to happen," said Ray Smith, 58, who has driven a carriage in York for 25 years.

"The bollard has been locked into position so we've only been left a very small amount of space to get through.

"If one of our horses got distracted while going through, its natural instinct would be to panic and lurch forward. The carriage could easily be turned over on to its side.

"I've had a lot of near-misses already - it's a health and safety issue.

"My first concern is always for my passengers."

Fellow carriage driver Peter Fitch, who has worked in the city for three years, said: "It can be very dangerous when I've got passengers on board. I hope the council see sense."

A spokeswoman for City of York Council said: "The bollard was causing a lot of problems because many people were removing it illegally to get through.

"Bearing in mind there are a lot of pedestrians in the area we took the decision to permanently lock it. The emergency services have keys to all locked bollards in the city so they didn't have a problem.

"We felt the carriage drivers could safely get through. We will now look at the issue and try to come up with some sort of compromise."

Mr Smith added: "It only needs one of the horses to be distracted once. Locking the bollard is completely unnecessary and potentially lethal."

The carriage drivers have always been allowed to use the route, but private motor vehicles are prohibited.

Updated: 11:41 Tuesday, July 16, 2002