Car parking charges in Skipton could be slashed to 50p for up to an hour if a proposal gets the go-ahead.

Members of Craven District Council's policy and resources committee are faced with five options on how to amend car parking charges for 1999/2000.

However, after a lengthy debate members have decided not to approve any of the five options laid out in a report which was brought before the Council after recent complaints about the high price of parking.

Members agreed to refer the decision to a full Council meeting at the end of the month.

Coun Shelagh Marshall said she could not approve the option listed which would reduce car parking charges from 80p per hour to 60p per hour and charge £13 for a limited parking permit and £26 for an unlimited permit.

Instead she proposed a sixth option to committee members that car park charges should be reduced to 50p.

To compensate for the reduction in budget produced by this, she proposed the charge for limited permits should be increased to £20 and the charge for unlimited permits to £50.

Members agreed that the financial implications of reducing car parking charges to 50p should be sought.

It was agreed other ideas should be looked into, such as the Council appointing its own traffic warden, and discussing parking when the council meets with parishes about the budget.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.