HIGHWAYS chiefs have been accused of hampering efforts to upgrade a village conservation area.

Durham County Council has painted "slow'' signs in red boxes in Front Street, Sherburn, in answer to concerns about the speed of traffic.

But the Labour authority's efforts have been criticised by Carol Woods, the Liberal Democrat Durham City Council cabinet member, who is also on the parish council.

She said the markings were out of place, could reduce the chance of winning English Heritage money for improvements to the conservation area, and were introduced without consultation.

She said the markings appeared without warning three months after the county council told the parish council it had no money to tackle the village's traffic problem.

Councillor Woods, who is also her party's parliamentary candidate for Durham, said: "I wish the county council had consulted with the parish council before going ahead with their plans.

"We have made it clear before, and we will make it clear again, that we don't want these signs.

"We want to upgrade the conservation area in Sherburn and these signs detract from that aim. I can't believe they have any real impact on the speed of vehicles passing through the village and we could certainly have spent the money on more effective traffic calming.''

She added that she had written to the county council asking for the signs to be removed.

"It is extremely disappointing that they didn't involve the people of Sherburn in this decision despite our efforts to engage them in our campaign.''

The city and parish councils are hoping to improve street furniture in the centre of the village and possibly gain funding to give grants for improvements for buildings.

A county council spokeswoman said: "Traffic calming signing - tractor warning signs and road markings - was introduced in response to long-standing complaints about speeding along the main road through the village dating back to late 2003, which came to the top of the list for action in June 2004.

"For signing of this type to have the desired effect it has to be conspicuous.

"Because of the numbers involved - over 1,000 a year in the northern part of the county alone - we don't generally consult on minor signing and lining schemes, but in future when such work is to be undertaken in a conservation area we will do so.

"The issue of the signs in Sherburn has been referred to our design and conservation team."