York's retail offering will come under the spotlight at the meeting of City of York Council's economic development and community safety scrutiny board on Wednesday, 16 June.

The cross party group will decide whether to look at how the city can reverse an apparent decrease in the attractiveness of York's shopping facilities as a scrutiny topic.

The scrutiny board's interest stems from the results of regular visitor surveys, which show that the percentage of people visiting York for shopping has declined from 38 per cent in 1998/99 to 8 per cent in 2002/03. The percentage of visitors who picked out the shopping as something they particularly liked about York has also declined from 60 per cent in 1998/99 top 18 per cent in 2002/03.

Visitor spend on shopping has also decreased over the same period, from £100 million in 1998 to a provisional £95 million in 2002.

The city's retail offering will also be affected by the imminent decision on Coppergate, whether or not the development gets the go-ahead.

Helen Christmas, senior scrutiny officer, City of York Council, said: "The retail environment is a critical part of York's success, helping to attract visitors and making York a pleasant place in which to live and work.

"Members have highlighted retailing trends as a potential area of work for the the scrutiny board, and are particularly interested in residents' and retailers' views."