A COUNCIL is supporting the closure of a footpath to tackle problems caused by youths in a County Durham village.

Chester-le-Street planning officials have agreed to give Michael Fingleton permission to transform land next to his house in Sacriston into a garden.

They said that since he erected a fence that blocks a cut between properties on Plawsworth Road, there has been a reduction in complaints to police.

Young people had previously used the area as a meeting place for drinking, causing a nuisance and vandalising property.

There were also complaints because late-night drinkers were using it as a toilet on their way home.

A petition of 77 names has been sent to the planning committee opposing the closure, and one critic is vowing to call in Government inspectors.

Protestors feel that because the land has been used as a footpath for so long, it should remain open.

Planning services manager Tom Watson, of Chester-le-Street District Council, said: "The track was being used a rat-run, and a lot of kids were coming down from nearby housing estates and vandalising parked cars.

"There were a lot of logged complaints to the police and now it has been closed, it has prevented that sort of thing from happening.

"The support of the neighbours indicates that since the fence has been introduced, there has been a tail-off in the vandalism."

Planning permission to transform the land into a garden is now in place, but work cannot start until the footpath has been legally closed.

Mr Watson said the council would help in the application for the closure of the footpath.

However, he said he expected the issue to go to a public inquiry because of the opposition.

Durham County Council, which is responsible for maintaining footpaths and highways, said the way was not marked on its definitive footpaths map.

George Williams, who is looking after the property adjoining the fence for relatives, said: "This has been used a public footpath for over 100 years and it should remain one. Closing it means denying hundreds of people to this right of way.

"We intend to take it all the way to the Secretary of State."