THE owner of a candle shop in one of York's premier shopping streets says his trade in June was down by almost 25 per cent on the same month last year.

John Reed believes new parking restrictions and evening charges are at least partially to blame for the decline in business at The Candle Shop in historic Stonegate.

He says customers regularly used to call in last year, saying they had been out window shopping the previous evening, and were returning to buy something they had seen in the window display. But that hadn't been happening this year, since evening charges came in.

He also thought high daytime charges were having an effect on business, with fewer people around.

His concerns about the decline in window shopping appeared to be substantiated by the proprietor of the Presbytery Guest House at Barkston Ash, between Sherburn-in-Elmet and Tadcaster, who said: "My husband and I often came to York on an evening for a stroll around our beautiful city but the charges have put us off."

She also said her guests did not want to come into York in the evening for a meal as they

had to pay to park. "It is benefiting our local restaurants, but it is York's loss."

Updated: 09:55 Thursday, July 01, 2004