Parking in Leeds city centre is always a point of contention, with commuters, shoppers and night owls all battling for their place. There are lots of private and council owned parking venues across the city, some are multi-storey, others are just on the street.
Wherever you decide to park however, you will almost certainly have to pay. Most car parks that are not enclosed multi-storeys are pay and display, including parking bays in York Place. This particular street has received criticism recently from residents and drivers as people have deemed the parking rules "unfair" and "poorly signposted".
York Place is about a five minute walk from Leeds train station, making it a really good place to get a space. It is a long street with bays all along the side, and some occassional double yellow lines. Because it's convenient, it's a safe street and parking is relatively cheap - meaning lots of people park here.
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All throughout the day you will see every space filled with all manner of vehicles - however the other thing you will almost always see are parking tickets.
LeedsLive did a small investigation, counting the number of cars with tickets across a one-week period. From the week between October 14 and October 21. On every day, there was at least one car with a parking ticket.
It turns out, drivers are often caught out on this street, failing to realise that parking is for two hours maximum on weekdays. We spoke to some drivers and residents to ask for their thoughts.
June, 54, who commutes to the city everyday and parks at Wellington St, said: "I've been parking here for a while now, probably about six months on and off because two hours isn't enough at the York Place parking, but it will catch people out. It does clearly say two hours maximum but I think a lot of people assume they can just park for longer."
David, a resident, was once an unlucky recipient of a ticket and he said he was outraged when he got back to his car to find the charge. He said: "It's ludicrous, I didn't see anything that said two hours maximum, I saw the traffic warden putting it on my car and I couldn't believe it.
"Most people probably don't think about it, I didn't. It's unfair, two hours parking isn't enough for a start and then to get a ticket, it should be made more clear with a proper sign."
Ellis, 23, a resident who doesn't drive, said: "Cars will park there and it's the same ones everytime that get tickets, maybe they just don't care and find it easier to take the fine."
It seems that some people do continue to get caught out, but Leeds City Council says the parking charges and restrictions are clear.
A spokesperson for the council said: "Parking charges and restrictions are displayed on-street and are available to view online. We advise anyone to check before they park to avoid incurring any penalties.
“Any surplus income that is generated by parking charges is used by the council to improve transport infrastructure in the city.”
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