CITY officials and police are trying to block plans for a new pavement café in York’s Parliament Street, saying such features have reached saturation point.

City leaders have promoted a continental-style café culture in recent years, but claim further expansion would hinder pedestrians, cyclists and city-centre views.

The backlash has been prompted by plans from Thornton’s, which wants to create an outdoor seating area in the middle of Parliament Street.

The plans have been criticised by City of York Council’s conservation officer Sandra Duffill; its highways officer Vickie Hennigan; and North Yorkshire Police’s traffic management officer, Steve Burrell. Mr Burrell said the café would block pedestrians and access to the cycle racks, and would constitute an “unnecessary/unlawful obstruction”.

He said waiting staff would have to negotiate crowds to serve people, and pointed out: “A hot latté spilt over a baby buggy is not to be relished.”

He said the area was already “severely congested” with tables and chairs and said granting planning permission for another café would be “a step too far”.

Ms Hennigan said the city had “already reached a limit” to the number of cafés Parliament Street could accommodate without pedestrians suffering.

She too said cyclists would suffer and said adding more furniture to a congested area would make pedestrian access harder. She said city centre manager Paul Barrett shared her concerns.

Ms Duffill said proposed canvas barriers on the café would introduce new advertising to the street and the outdoor seating would have a “negative visual impact” on the city-centre conservation area.

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of Visit York, said pavement cafés created a “great atmosphere”. She said: “We appreciate that some of the city’s streets and public areas present challenges.

“However, we hope a solution can be found to expand York’s outdoor eating opportunities, whilst at the same time maintaining a safe and pleasant environment.”