Skipton'S Chamber of Trade has objected to plans to build a new council building on the town's Coach Street car park.

Craven District Council has mooted the idea of creating a one-stop shop for council services as part of the Renaissance Town project.

But chamber members said the move would create further parking congestion and remove invaluable parking from the town centre, resulting in a loss of revenue to the council.

And they said the proposed scheme would have a marked effect on many of the independently owned businesses occupying Coach Street and the surrounding areas.

Secretary Barbara Allen said: "These businesses depend on the flow of people from the car park and anything which reduces that flow will adversely affect one of the more interesting retail areas of the town."

In response, Jonathan Kerr, Craven District Council's director of economic, community and customer services, said: "The proposed joint service centre on Coach Street is just one of a number of key projects put forward as part of the Renaissance Market Town Initiative and shouldn't be considered in isolation.

"We fully recognise that Coach Street is a key site and any development will have an impact on surrounding homes and businesses. It is important to note the proposed plans not only focus on the development of a joint service centre, but the potential to also utilise the land for housing and business space.

"Full public consultation on all the key projects will be held later this year and in addition each site will have to go through a separate planning process with site-specific consultation as well as the standard controls that are already in place.

"I cannot stress enough that we have to consider the project as a whole rather than focusing on individual sites. We will never again have this opportunity to realise the potential Skipton has to offer and it is essential that we get this right."