A COUNCIL has raked in more than £112,000 in less than six months through the introduction of controversial on-street parking charges, it has emerged.

Darlington Borough Council installed parking meters on several streets in and around the town centre last November. In some cases, motorists were charged 80p per hour.

The council was criticised by a number of independent traders and many small firms that feared that they could be hit by a loss of trade.

The council has confirmed to The Northern Echo that it had £112,600 since bringing in the charges.

A council spokesman said the income received suggested that motorists were still flocking to the town.

But critics of the scheme still claim that the town centre economy is being adversely affected.

Conservative group leader Tony Richmond said: "All the evidence seems to point to the fact that trade has been lost.

"You just have to go around the areas where the on-street parking has been implemented and there are always plenty of empty spaces.

"Darlington Borough Council may have made this much from parking, but how much trade has been lost to the town centre?"

Traders in Duke Street and Grange Road were among the most vociferous objectors to the charging scheme.

The Gallerina art gallery, in Duke Street, went so far as to withdraw its sponsorship of council projects after customers were hit by £60 parking fines.

Gallery owner Richard Hindle said: "That £112,000 is just an opening figure - they won't get any repeat customers.

"Any people who would have been repeat customers will go to Yarm or Northallerton, or any other sensible alternatives.

"This is still on-going and as unjust as ever."

However, council leader John Williams said that claims that town centre trade had been affected were nonsense. He said: "The evidence we have, from the income collected, shows that motorists are parking on-street in the town centre in considerable numbers.

"If you take Grange Road as an example, it is full all day of shoppers parking short-term instead of long-stay commuters as we had before and that change has to be good for town centre businesses."