POLICE are to begin patrolling a lonely residential road on the outskirts of Darlington following reports of fly-tipping, drug abuse and cars being set alight.

Residents in the handful of isolated houses in Railway Cottages, Neasham Road, are concerned that their road, which leads to an isolated wooded area, is becoming a hot spot for criminal activity.

Flat-bed vans frequently use the deserted land in Hurworth Moor to dump building, gardening and household rubbish while car thieves drive on to the area to burn out vehicles.

Used needles have also been found lying on the ground.

At Tuesday's meeting of Hurworth Parish Council, Coun Peter Foster highlighted the residents' concerns.

He said: "Residents are having a lot of problems with cars being driven on to the side of the wooded area and then being burnt out.

"Flat bed vans are seen fly-tipping and the registration numbers have been reported to the borough council, which keeps coming out to clean up the mess.

"Youths are also using the area to take drugs. Needles have been found along the road side.

"One of the residents in particular, who only bought his house a few months ago and is spending money doing it up, is very concerned about the problems."

PC Karl Lowe, beat officer for Hurworth, told the D&S Times he was unaware of the problem but would take action.

He said: "The houses sit at the end of a lonely track road just on the left of the railway bridge at the top of Neasham Road.

"You could drive right past it and miss it easily. But although we know the road, we were not aware of any problems.

"The road is technically out of my Hurworth beat boundary, but because it is classed as Hurworth Moor I will drive up and down on a regular basis to see if it acts as a deterrent.

"Of course, if anyone is spotted engaging in criminal activity they will be arrested and reported."

A spokesman for Darlington Borough Council, who confirmed the council had cleared away needles and rubbish from the lane, said: "We are aware of problems in the area. Details of registration numbers have been passed to the police and uniformed wardens will monitor the situation and carry out spot checks.

"Anyone found using drugs or fly-tipping will face prosecution, which could result in fines up to £25,000.