BETWEEN 8am and 6pm, Monday to Saturday, there is supposedly a ban on vans, lorries, private cars and motorcyles using Coppergate.

It is signalled at the appropriate times by electronic signs at each end, though no information is displayed outside those hours, nor does the council's website mention any ban affecting Coppergate.

I wonder why this restriction is so rarely enforced? It seems that drivers who fail to see the signs, or who wilfully disobey them, are rewarded with a quick route through the city, to the detriment of public transport schedules.

By their illegal presence in the busy Pavement area, they cause an increased risk of accident to pedestrians, for they are both numerous and self-evidently bad drivers.

I guess that one in eight drivers is using this street illegally, rising to one in five after 4pm when the Goodramgate/ Colliergate route is open.

Either this regulation should be enforced, with cameras and fines, or it should be lifted.

The current situation, effectively a traffic ban you need not obey, breeds disrespect for all regulations.

Hugh Barwell,

Fulford Road, York.

Updated: 09:15 Friday, October 08, 2004