SHOPKEEPERS in a north Durham town say a lack of car parking spaces is strangling their businesses.

More than 170 small firms in Consett surveyed about facilities in the town centre said that the dearth of car parking spaces is killing trade - to the point where some are in danger of going under.

More than 200 parking places have gone in the town centre, ironically to make way for developments to regenerate the area, which has been in decline since the closure of the British Steel works in 1980.

Derwentside District Council sold a piece of waste ground off the Market Square which is now home to JD Wetherspoon's pub, The Company Row.

A larger area, behind the Department for Social Security building, formerly leased as a car park by the council from the water board, is being turned into housing.

The Derwentside Action Group is holding a public meeting in the Freemason's Arms, Consett, tonight at 7pm, where district council leader Alex Watson will answer complaints from the business community.

John Mainwaring, from the action group, said: "Bringing in all these people with new housing without making provision for car parking is ludicrous. Anyone with a brain bigger than a peanut could see what is going on."

The district council has commissioned a study into car parking in Stanley and Consett town centres.

It shows that there are 1,204 car parking spaces within ten minutes' walk of Consett town centre. While there are only 400 in the town centre, these are largely taken up by workers, forcing shoppers to look elsewhere.

Council leader Alex Watson said: "One answer could be charging for car parking, but this has been constantly rejected by the commercial centre in both Stanley and Consett."