RESIDENTS on Gargrave Road, Skipton, feel they are being punished for simply owing a car.

Many of them are furious that there is nowhere to park outside their houses.

They claim that not only were spaces taken away during the traffic calming, but an application has now been submitted to forbid them parking on the only street which does not obstruct anyone.

Vivien Hough, who lets a house on Gargrave Road, said there were not enough parking spaces on the road for each householder to leave one car.

Miss Hough said some residents had chosen to park on the public highway at Gainsborough Court. But now an application has been submitted to restrict parking there.

"Several residents on Gainsborough Court seem to feel that this road is their own private driveway.

"They have the privilege of being able to park in their own privately owned garages and drives, so they possibly don't appreciate our parking concerns," said Miss Hough.

Area traffic manager Bill Isherwood said the application had been submitted by residents on Gainsborough Court, who claimed cars parked at the side of the road were dangerous.

One Gainsborough Court resident told the Herald the cars parked along the road had reduced it to a single track. He added that it would be dangerous if an emergency vehicle had to get up the narrowed street.

He said there could be up to 12 cars and commercial vehicles parked there.

But Mel Mason, the owner of Dalesgate Lodge Bed and Breakfast, said that by reducing the car parking spaces along the road the council was pushing tourism away from Skipton.

And in their objection letter, residents Martyn and Marie Stone said: "We wish to point out the extraordinary lack of justification for the proposed introduction of the double yellow lines on both sides of Gainsborough Court. Existing parking on Gainsborough Court poses, in itself, no road, safety or any other nuisance."

Resident Nicola Newton has collected a petition of about 100 signatures against the proposals. She said nine houses either side of the Gainsborough Court junction and directly opposite shared three parking spaces.

She said the space on Gainsborough Court was essential.