QUEUING in rush hour traffic and fighting for that last elusive parking place could soon be a thing of the past as people are invited to sail into Skipton.

Plans have been mooted for a "park and cruise" scheme where a water bus will bring tourists and workers from an out of town parking spot into Skipton centre and back out later in the day.

The new owner of Pennine Boat Trips Brent Stephenson has been approached to run the water bus.

He said he would be delighted to operate it and he would be gauging the level of support from North Yorkshire County Council, Skipton Chamber of Trade and Craven District Council in the near future.

British Waterways is already backing this innovative form of public transport.

Mr Stephenson said: "The water bus would certainly ease congestion in the town and would free up parking spaces."

He thought that many people would be happy to park cheaply in an out of town car park and then cruise into the town centre to go to work or to go shopping.

Although the water bus will be a novelty for Skipton and tourists would use it because it is unique, Mr Stephenson hoped it would also be seen by people working in Skipton as a serious form of public transport.

Already three places have been suggested as starting points for the bus.

They are the Auction Mart, a point along Broughton Road or on Horse Close. Mr Stephenson thought the boats would drop off at a point near Skipton Bus Station.

He already has a boat in mind for the water bus which is small enough to turn around in the canal and he will be looking for funding to help purchase it.

Mr Stephenson is hoping that a steering group can be set up to look in more detail at how the water bus would run. He does not think that it will dramatically affect Craven District Council's car parking revenue.

Lynne Pegler, from British Waterways, said the company fully supported the scheme in principle and was looking forward to discussing the finer details with Mr Stephenson.

She said other towns like Wigan were already successfully operating water buses.

"If the public use them and embrace the scheme they can be very successful in taking traffic off the roads," she added.

The subject was raised at Skipton's Chamber of Trade meeting where members indicated that they would be interested in finding out more about it.

The water bus scheme would help address some of the problems raised in Skipton's latest traffic management survey which was filled in by more than 3,000 residents.

The top ten areas of concern included the need for a park and ride scheme, keeping heavy vehicles like coaches out of the town centre, improved public transport, and more parking spaces.