PARISH councillors have told their chairman he must remove boulders he has placed on the village green outside his home.

At Tuesday's meeting at Cockfield Community Centre, Coun Keith Quigley explained that he had placed them there to protect a rebuilt wall which had been nudged and weakened by vehicles. Although the stones are tight against his wall, the access road they sit on is part of the village green and so they are not permissible.

The decision to tell him to remove them followed a letter from the adjacent surgery, signed by practice manager April Futter on behalf of Doctors Waller and Neville.

It told of a serious incident nearly a fortnight ago, when a patient fell on the uneven, loose gravel on the access road. Her injuries were so severe that an ambulance had to be called, but it had difficulty manoeuvring, partly due to the boulders and partly due to parked cars.

Coun Quigley said he would consult his wife about whether to shift them, but Coun John Priestley advised him that they would have no choice if that was what the parish council decided.

However, the doctors' main concern was that the parish council, which is custodian of the greens, should take immediate action on the state of the surface to prevent further accidents.

Coun Neville Singleton, chairman of Teesdale Disability Access Forum, said money could be made available to surface it, because the new Disability Act took precedence over village greens.

However, the clerk, Pauline Charlton, later checked with Durham County Council, whose legal department told her that was not the case.

"I will have to report my findings at the next meeting and see where we go from there," she told the D&S Times. "As I understand it we have to replace like with like, so we won't be able to use tarmac without permission from the Home Office, which could be a lengthy process."

In the meantime, it was unanimously agreed to write to Coun and Mrs Quigley ordering them to remove the boulders.

White ones placed by the council years ago to prevent erosion are to remain. Mrs Charlton was also told to write to the surgery asking non-medical staff not to park on the access road.

"It should be used for dropping off and picking up only and then the ambulance could get access," said Coun Gerald Brown.

"I accept that something needs to be done, but while staff are parking there they can't expect others not to. The example has to come from them," he said.