A QUARTER of residents believe they will need to use their cars more often to get around York in the next five years - but only one in eight want to do so.

The results are among the revelations about how people feel about transport in the city - according to a survey carried out by York Civic Trust, York Bus Forum and York Environment Forum.

More than 1,800 people answered questions about travelling in and around York.

Nearly 90 per cent of them said traffic jams are a “serious problem” for the city.

And air pollution, large delivery vehicles and traffic on shopping streets were also issues highlighted by participants.

Prof Tony May, chair of York Civic Trust’s transport advisory group, said: “Residents and commuters are clearly telling us that action is needed to tackle congestion, air pollution and climate change.

“While the recently announced proposals for a car-free city centre and a driverless shuttle bus are welcome, they need to be seen in the context of a city-wide plan; otherwise their impacts will be eclipsed by what happens in York Central and the new developments planned along the outer ring road.”

Introducing a congestion charging zone was suggested as one way to tackle traffic woes.

But improving public transport - through better routes, more frequent services and cheaper fares - was seen as the best way to reduce car use.

Participants said that difficulties crossing roads and inappropriate parking also caused problems.

But about a quarter of participants said they expected they would need to use their cars more often in the next five years - but only one in eight people said they want that to happen.

The survey was funded by the organisers, The National Lottery Community Fund, the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund and York BID.

City of York councillors have backed plans to ban all non-essential car journeys within the city walls by 2023.