PLANNERS have refused an application for an outdoor seating area outside a new restaurant in York.

Joe's Kitchen is to open in the old Cafe Rouge site in Coney Street, beside the Mansion House.

City of York Council has refused the outdoor element of the business plan. Jonathan Kenyon, council planning officer, said in a report: "The proposed seating would be positioned in one of the busiest parts of the city centre on a primary shopping street where footfall is high. To accommodate the outside seating area proposed would hinder ease of movement and conflict with the functionality of the shopping street."

He said it would mar views along Coney Street and of listed buildings. He said street cafes could add vitality to quiet streets but said Coney Street was already busy. There are no other outdoor dining areas on the street.

York Civic Trust said it welcomed economic activity in the historic city centre but said they had reservations about the plan because of the encroachment on to the footpaths.