A PETITION of 4,635 signatures objecting to the removal of historic features in Darlington town centre may not be taken into consideration by the council.

On Wednesday, members of the civic trust formally handed in the petition objecting to the proposed demolition of the three-tier steps, terraces, balustrades, retaining walls and railings as part of a £6.5m pedestrianisation scheme.

But yesterday John Buxton, the council's development director, warned that as most signatures were collected before the planning applications for the scheme were submitted on January 21, people would have been unaware of the full details.

"Whilst the petition will be brought to the planning committee meeting, the weight it carries will be limited," he said. "Half the people may have signed the petition before they saw the plans, which they may have liked."

The civic trust said the plans to demolish parts of High Row had not changed - and that it was this that the petition objected to.

Yesterday Clive Owen, trust vice-chairman, said: "The council is now saying the petition is invalid because some of the people signed it before the applications were submitted.

"Therefore, all the expressions of support the council claim to have collected at the public exhibitions last year must be invalid.

"This will make a lot of people feel disappointed and angry. The trust is not angry about High Row if the process is fair.

"If one scheme was compared against another and the public chose one of them, then the trust would be quite happy to go along with the decision."

He said that the trust would hand in its formal objections against the planning application at the town hall next week.