THE campaign to block the sale of a York car and coach park has gone international.

German tourists visiting the city have backed calls for plans by City of York Council to allow York St John University to buy the Union Terrace site for a campus expansion to be dropped.

The council has postponed its decision in the wake of a public backlash, with local traders saying the sale would damage their business and tour operators also opposing the move.

Three tourism companies – Exploring York, York & More and Quest Tours – organised a protest at the site yesterday to bring the campaign to the attention of foreign visitors.

Matthew Greenwood, of the Save Union Terrace, said: “They were surprised at the plans and happy to support us.

“We are trying to drive home the message that Union Terrace does not only benefit the local area and businesses, it also benefits the international community in terms of being an accessible coach facility when people are visiting York.”

Mr Greenwood, owner of Exploring York, said campaigners had studied the approach of other European cities on coach parking after the council said it would look at using multiple drop-off points across the city if Union Terrace was sold.

“Bruges, which is a similar-sized city to York and also medieval, does not like drop-off points instead because they cause problems for other road-users,” he said.

“Oxford only allows drop-offs on wider streets, which we don’t believe York has, and we have looked at between 20 and 30 other cities which only have drop-off points in addition to coach parks.

“There is also an issue surrounding Continental coaches, which are left-hand drive, and that means passengers getting out of the vehicle into the road.”

The council has said the sale would create more than 100 new jobs and £2 million to revitalise the city centre and introduce pay-on-exit parking through a “Reinvigorating York” scheme. York St John said its expansion plans could generate an extra £45 million for the city’s economy.

• A public meeting about the plans will be held by the Save Union Terrace Car Park campaign at 6pm today at Bennett’s Café in High Petergate.