Rachael Maskell MP supports Acomb Front Street campaign

Acomb residents launched a campaign called 'What a Load of Bollards' after dozens of bollards were installed in Front Street.

The bollards - part of a City of York Council regeneration project - came after more than 1,200 people had responded to a council consultation in 2021 over how they wanted the high street to improve.

But residents say they wanted the area to be more accessible for the elderly and wheelchair users - and claim the bollards do the opposite.

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They say the high street now looks like a “military zone”, and the bollards make the street less inclusive to those who are elderly, disabled, or cycle.

A City of York Council spokesperson has said that the strategy for the area included relacing bollards, paving and drainage, improving signage and the provision of a new traffic gate.

But Rachael Maskell, Labour MP for York Central, has hit out against the bollards, claiming they were a waste of vital funding.

Ms Maskell said: "The Shared Prosperity Fund is meant to address deprivation, skills deficits and job opportunities, but instead they have squandered huge sums of money on bollards, so tightly spaced along Front Street that some motability scooters will not be able to get through."