CAMPAIGNERS have rejected compromise proposals for a temporary car park in Durham.

Durham City Council has suggested that The Sands, a city green area, and a former Royal Mail sorting office are both used for parking while development work is carried out at the city's 350-space Walkergate car park.

The council said the plan was an acceptable alternative to putting all the parking at The Sands while Amec develops the Walkergate area into a 500-space multi-storey car park, bars, hotel and flats.

But residents' action group Save Our Sands said other sites should still be considered.

The former sorting office, at Freeman Place, is owned by Durham County Council, which said it was happy to help find a solution to the parking problem in the run-up to Christmas.

The site is in a conservation area and the proposals would need planning permission to be used for parking.

Under the latest proposals, a public inquiry would still have to be heard into the use of The Sands.

Council leader Sue Pitts said: "We have been aware that many people were upset that The Sands was to be used for temporary parking and we think we have now found an acceptable alternative.

"There will still be a requirement to put approximately 165 spaces on The Sands but this will mean that the original proposals will be significantly reduced and The Sands can still be used for recreational activities.''

Save Our Sands secretary David Williams said a former Northern Electric depot on the other side of the river and a disused scrapyard should be considered by the council.

He said the latest proposal was weakening the council's case for using The Sands and that other sites had not seriously been considered.

"The reasons for digging up The Sands are diminishing," he said. "It is ridiculous they are proposing this when there are no agreements over Freeman Place. Everything appears to be so vague and that worries us.''

Durham County Council's environment and technical services director, Chris Tunstall, said the old Royal Mail office site had potential for temporary car parking.

"While we can't see any problem in principle, it does lie within a conservation area, so the appropriate consents will have to be sought, both for the current building's demolition and the temporary after-use."

Work on Walkergate is likely to start in April.