The people of York want the Coppergate Riverside scheme to go ahead - by almost a two-to-one margin.

Those are the conclusions of an independent survey of residents commissioned by would-be developers Land Securities.

The findings were released today, just 48 hours before planners decide on the £60 million scheme to extend the Coppergate Centre on land between Clifford's Tower and Piccadilly.

They will come as a blow to opponents of the proposal, whose alternative plans to turn the site near the historic Tower into public parkland won mass support from 200 people at a public meeting last week.

The survey, conducted by Questions Answered Ltd, a York-based independent market research company, involved the interviewing of more than 400 residents across the Greater York area.

"The aim of the survey was to ensure that a representative sample of people living in Greater York had the chance to express their views," said a report by the firm.

It claimed that a key objective during its house-to-house interviewing was to pose questions that were balanced and in no way indicated bias.

The pollsters posed the question: Should the proposed Coppergate Riverside development go ahead? Almost 55 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed. Only 24.6 per cent disagreed or strongly disagreed.

Asked what they thought would be the major benefits of the scheme, 35 per cent said better shopping opportunities and 26.8 per cent said more jobs. But 23.4 per cent said there would be none.

Asked what they thought would be the major drawbacks of the development, the largest percentage (31.6 per cent) said that car parking would decrease, while 27.3 per cent were concerned that congestion would increase on the roads.

Eighteen per cent were worried about the loss of view and vista, but a similar percentage said there were no major drawbacks.

A majority of respondents favoured further development of the city centre, and just over a quarter said they would increase their visits to the city centre if Riverside went ahead.

"Overall, this report suggests that the development should go ahead, although any development should note the concerns and sensitivities expressed by the people of York," the report concluded.

Philip Crowe, spokesman for the campaign group York Tomorrow, which is proposing the alternative scheme for public parkland, said today he would question the validity of the survey.

"It's clear that none of the questions indicate there could be a possible alternative - that a compromise might be available," he said.

"We are not against the re-development of Piccadilly - we are offering a compromise."