AN auction mart site could be used to ease parking problems as part of a £10m redevelopment scheme in Ripon.

Dozens of parking spaces will be lost in the centre of Ripon when work starts on the multi-million pound scheme for shops, housing and parking for almost 200 cars on a derelict site west of Ripon Market Place.

Now Harrogate Borough Council is seeking permission for land at the Livestock Auction Mart Company in North Road to be used for parking.

Work is due to start this summer on the development and is expected to take about 18 months to complete.

Current coach parking on the central site at Victoria Grove would be relocated to the auction mart and the coach park used for extra car parking. Coach operators will be able to use a drop-off and pick up point at Moss's Arcade, next to the Market Place.

Although Ripon Auction Mart no longer holds cattle auctions, it is used by Leyburn Auction Mart as a collection site for sheep, pigs and cattle.

One of the options for long-term use of the mart site is to redevelop it for housing. But no immediate progress has been made on this front, paving the way for temporary use of the site for parking.

The city centre development will see the creation of a Booth's supermarket, shops, 36 flats and parking for almost 200 cars.

Members of an area planning committee of the borough council are to make a decision on the temporary parking at their meeting next Tuesday.

Planning officer Mike Warden is recommending approval for two years.