A MAGICIAN was far from spellbound when he turned up at a city centre caf to give a Christmas show - and a parking attendant told him to disappear with his car.

Martin Chapman says he simply wanted to unload his props from his car at 3.30pm, so he could perform some magic tricks for children at Betty's Tearooms in St Helen's Square, York, at 4pm.

The York magician said about 40 children, aged from two or three to about eight, and the children of staff at the caf, were looking forward to the show.

Martin the Magician, who has been giving magic shows across York and North Yorkshire for 14 years, said his props on that day ranged from flowers and clowns to wands of every size.

But then the attendant appeared and told him he was not allowed to park and unload until 4pm.

He said he tried to explain that he was due to give a magic show, that the children would be disappointed if it could not go ahead and that he was only wanting to unload for a few minutes.

But the attendant was adamant that she could not turn a blind eye.

"She wasn't bothered about it at all. She just didn't care," he claimed.

He said he appreciated that the attendants had rules to enforce, but felt they could show a little more flexibility.

He said he usually liked to finish his show with a spot of levitation, but had left behind his usual levitation props on that day - ruling out any chance of making the attendant float out of Davygate.

Mr Chapman, 48, of Fulford, York, said fortunately, he did not have another show booked later in the afternoon. He was able to unload at 4pm and perform the show half an hour late at 4.30pm.

City of York Council today defended the attendant's decision, saying: "There are signs at the side of Betty's clearly stating that there is no parking at that time of day."

A spokeswoman said the attendant had potentially saved Mr Chapman from a parking fine by warning him of his offence rather than immediately issuing a parking notice.

The spokeswoman said: "To be able to unload in the area at that time of day, Mr Chapman should have applied to the city centre management team in advance and they could have provided him with a permit.

"The only other exception to the rule would be green badge holders."

Updated: 09:25 Tuesday, December 13, 2005