DISABILITY campaigners have been left in a spin over wheelchair access at York's latest visitor attraction.

Yorkshire Wheel bosses came under fire after an access expert inspected facilities at the site.

Lynn Jeffries, pictured, checked out the attraction following complaints from other wheelchair users in the city, and found that:

Only two pods are wheelchair-accessible

Only one wheelchair user can use a pod at a time

Wheelchairs cannot turn round in the pods

Electric wheelchairs are not allowed

Alarms are on the pod ceilings and cannot be reached from a wheelchair

The access ramp is followed by a step, so site staff have to lift wheelchairs into the pods

Miss Jeffries said: "They have only got two pods in that they say are accessible, and two out of 42 is a poor number.

"Those two have a wider door and this ridiculous ramp that goes up to them, then ends up with a step."

She added: "If you turned up on your own in a wheelchair you would not be able to get in to the pod, so you would have to be handled by staff into the pod which would be a very scary experience."

Miss Jeffries continued: "Once you are in the pod, you can only see one way or the other. There is no room to move so you are limited to one view.

"All the alarm buttons are right on the ceiling, so if you have not got the movement to reach up you would not be able to reach an alarm if something did happen. It's ridiculous."

John Lowery, senior manager of World Tourist Attractions, said: "Making an attraction such as this fully accessible to wheelchair-users is a significant technical challenge which we are proud to have been able to meet. We continue to look at ways to improve the experience for visitors still further.

"Access is supervised for all wheel users and staff are trained to provide special requirements for loading a wheelchair. It is currently necessary for staff to assist in putting chairs in position due to a small gap. We are currently looking at ways for this gap to be reduced.

"A number of wheelchairs are on site should any visitors require an alternative to an electric wheelchair."

On the fact only one wheelchair could fit in a pod and that it could not turn round, spokesman Toby Wardman said: "The size of the wheel and therefore the size of the pods means there is no way that could be changed. The only reason you can turn round in the London Eye is that it's twice the size."

He said wheelchair users would always be accompanied on the wheel, so the alarms' positioning should not be problematic.

Updated: 08:26 Saturday, May 27, 2006