MOVES are to be made to cut car parking charges in Ryedale after a £261,000 windfall was revealed by district council officers.

The issue of what should be done with the money, which has come about thanks to a boost in car park income and recycling grants, is to be raised at Ryedale District Council's scrutiny committee tomorrow night and at next Monday's policy and resources committee.

Coun Paul Andrews said the money should be used to reinstate services which had suffered as a result of the cuts which were made to balance the council's budget. He wants to see car parking charges reduced and two public toilets, at Wentworth Street, Malton, and Staxton Hill - both victims of cutbacks - reopened.

"I can see no reason why the increased charges cannot be reversed. The council has an order under which it can charge a maximum fee, but there would be nothing to prevent it introducing lesser charges," he said.

Coun Andrews believed traders in Malton and Norton had suffered as a result of the rise in parking charges.

If they were returned to last year's levels and the toilets were re-opened, he believes it would still leave £90,000 of the £261,000 remaining.

That money, said Coun Andrews, could be used to help those hit by the June 19 floods in the Bilsdale, Hawnby and Helmsley areas. Alternatively, money could be allocated from the council's £8.7 million reserves. "It is appalling that they are so high," said Coun Andrews, who will be seeking special dispensation to speak at the meeting of the policy committee because he is not a member.

Meanwhile, Coun John Clark believes the windfall should be used to cut council tax. He said he would be asking at the scrutiny committee what options were available for using the money. Coun Clark added that a strong case could be made for having two levels of car parking charges - a higher one for visitors and a lower one for residents.

"I shall be asking what is going to happen to the money. I don't believe an immediate decision should be made - it should be taken into account in the whole budget process."

The extra £261,000 is likely to go to the Community Investment Fund (£100,000) and to create a Budget Strategy Fund (£161,000).

This new fund would be used to finance one-off events such as helping those affected by the recent flooding, and also to meet any budget shortfall.

In March, when the budget was being set, there was strong opposition to the increase in car parking charges, but financial services director for the council, Trevor Teasdale, said a decrease now would simply not be possible.

"For one thing the car parking charges are already in operation and they have been set by a parking order," he said. "Where we have less income we'd need that to balance it out for next year.

''Car parking is only part of the whole income of the authority. It has ups and downs and needs to offset some of the shortfalls."

He said that any income was very unpredictable, and the fact that the authority made £85,000 more than predicted from parking through income and rates refunds did not come to light at the budget-making time in February and March because the accounts were not closed until March 31.

But the mayor of Malton, Ann Hopkinson, added her voice to calls for car parking charges to be reduced. She said it was imperative that the price came down.

"I think we're losing trade in the towns because of it. I know for a fact that a lot of people living in the villages are going to Northallerton instead of Malton now because they have free parking. They can go for the day and have a meal and the shops are good," she said.

Updated: 15:36 Wednesday, July 27, 2005