CAMPAIGNERS are calling on the local authority to listen to their concerns about the region's biggest motor-racing venue.

Noise from Croft Circuit, near Darlington, has been an issue ever since the track was revamped in the mid-1990s.

People with homes nearby claim there have been several breaches of the unilateral undertaking that governs noise from the venue and say the local authority has failed to act.

Richmondshire District Council is adamant that if it went to court to challenge the operators, it would lose.

Last summer, campaigners called in the Local Government Ombudsman alleging the council had failed to deal with their complaints, but the ombudsman concluded there was "no or insufficient evidence of maladministration".

In January, the Ministry of Defence's use of the circuit for a helicopter exercise prompted fresh objections and there were complaints about cars outside designated parking areas.

On Tuesday, the council's environment and planning committee will meet to discuss the ombudsman's report and the latest complaints.

Councillors will consider a report from officers that concludes the authority has no power to prevent helicopters using the circuit and that the parking problems do not constitute a need for formal action against the circuit.

But a spokesman for the campaigners said he was hoping councillors would take a different view.

"This is their last chance to listen to what local people are saying," he said.

"At the moment, residents are so disillusioned with local democracy, they are beginning to feel that there is no point picking up the phone anymore."