York car park closed as activist calls for relocation

Coppergate Centre car park in Piccadilly and the walkway between Castle car park and Piccadilly were cordoned off after a reported sexual assault on Wednesday evening (September 30).

Police said the alleged victim was being supported by specially trained officers and urged anyone with information about the reported incident to come forward.

The police presence resulted in Shopmobility York closing throughout Thursday.

Coppergate car park in Piccadilly, York was closed yesterday (Thursday, October 1) and police guarded the walkway between it and Castle car park (Image: Haydn Lewis)

Disability rights activist Flick Williams said: "Coppergate car park closed with police in attendance. No shop-mobility until further notice.

"They really do need relocating to another site. Also this underlines why disabled people dislike multi- storeys. Being separated from your vehicle is particularly problematic."

The Press attended the scene on several occasions during the day and there were no signs that Piccadilly was closed to traffic.

Workers arriving at shops in St Mary's Square and Piccadilly for their morning shifts said the cordon was up as early as 5.45am.

Jackie Marshall and Lorna Elvington, who work at Next in St Mary's Square, encountered the cordon on their way to work.

Jackie said: "I was dropped off close to the hotel in Tower Street and we came up the back way and then down the alleyway towards the Piccadilly entrance but were told by police it was closed, and then we saw that the pedestrian entrance to the car park in St Mary's Square was also shut."

A member of staff at Primark said she noticed the police tape in Piccadilly when she arrived for her shift at 5.45am.

Police were guarding the Castle car park entrance to the walkway between in and Piccadilly yesterday (Thursday, October 1) (Image: Kevin Glenton)

Senior Investigating Officer Matt Wilkinson, of North Yorkshire Police, urged anyone with information about the reported sexual assault to come forward.

“The victim is being supported by specially trained officers while our investigation continues," he said.

“We understand that an incident of this nature will understandably cause concern within the local community. I want to reassure people that we are carrying out extensive enquiries to establish the full circumstances surrounding what happened.

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“As part of those enquiries, we are particularly keen to identify the man described above who was in the area around the time of the incident. We believe he may have important information which could assist our investigation, and I would urge him to come forward and speak to us.

“I would also urge anyone who was in York city centre at around 7pm yesterday evening and saw or heard anything that could assist our investigation to contact us.

“Even if you think the information you have is insignificant, please get in touch. It could prove important to our enquiries.”

Anyone with information that could help police is asked to phone 101 quoting reference number 12260192537.