ANGRY residents in Pickering have protested about the loss of their car parking spaces after work got underway on the town’s new Lidl.

The complaints were made at last week’s Pickering Town Council where councillors called for a round-the-table meeting with North Yorkshire County Council highways chiefs and bosses from the Environment Agency, Lidl and Ryedale District Council.

Residents in the Southgate area of the town say they will be losing several parking spaces because of the highway improvement scheme being carried out for the Lidl development on the former coalyard site nearby.

Nicky Taylor-Ollson said residents were concerned about late-night working by highway contracts, due to start shortly, and were against a three-lane traffic system which they claimed would result in noise and traffic emissions.

Another resident, Christine Fullerton, complained that there had been a lack of consultation about the work and there was particular anger at the loss of a 30-year-old parking area near the Pickering Antiques Centre.

Councillors took on board the complaints with Coun Mal Danks saying that taking away the parking zone was “a big mistake”.

The mayor, Coun Susan Cowan, described the long-running Lidl scheme – which won planning approval following a Government appeal – was “a shambles”.

“We are encouraged to be vocal and local, but we are not being told anything,” she said.

Coun William Oxley said: “We are in a recession and it’s vital that we don’t do anything to deter trade in the town. We don’t want Pickering to be strangled during these works.”

On-going calls for action to resolve parking problems in the Market Place and the height of speed humps in Middleton Road and Swainsea Lane are also being raised with the county highways authority.

Richard Marr, the project manager for the Ryedale area, said similar humps already existed in Helmsley, Sherburn and Whitby Road, Pickering, and were built to national designs.