A tourism survey threatens to undermine Scarborough Council s claim that its controversial parking scheme has been a success.Councillors will today be given details of an independent report which shows what visitors think of the scheme.

The findings show manyare unhappy with the parking restrictions and say they will not return.

The findings reveal:

REPORT results45 per cent of visitors were less likely to visit the town again and nearly 10 per cent vowed never to return46 per cent of people found the regulations hard to understandNearly half of the visitors said finding a parking space difficult. A third of those asked saying it was an acceptable chore. 23 per cent found it easy59 per cent said the charges were excessive, with 34 per cent happy it was good value39 per cent felt park and ride was good, 21 per cent said it was poor and 40 per cent said it was acceptable

The survey asked more than 400 visitors to Scarborough about their attitude towards transport and parking.

It was commissioned by the South Bay Traders Association, and was carried out by students from the University of Hull, Scarborough Campus.

Association chairman John Senior said: We have distributed the results so they can be included in any discussion relevant to the parking issue.

We believe they speak for themselves and are now interested to see what the council response will be.

Councillors are now being given copies of the findings prior to tomorrow s crunch meeting.

Head of engineering Keith Allen said: We have held considerable discussions and consultation with all the hotels, traders, and residents affected by the scheme.

Those consultations included the South Bay Traders Association and other groups and organisations.

Based on that consultation and the views included in it, both positive and negative, we have come up with 16 recommendations which will be discussed by councillors on the committee tomorrow.

Councillors will be told all Scarborough s visitors display loyalty to the resorts and often make at least one repeat trip.

The report adds: There is evidence the new parking regulations have generated an unfavourable response, especially among overnight visitors, and this loyalty may be threatened.

When the Evening News countdown to the debate began last week, senior council members said they felt the scheme had been given a broad welcome by most people.

An extensive consultation exercise, which tried to gauge the opinions of some 10,000 residents, visitors, traders and tourism industry representatives, was carried out.

The results showed about 20 per cent wanted to see some changes to the scheme. The council responded by making a total of 16 recommendations to be debated tomorrow.

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