TRAFFIC control measures will be in force to cope with the influx of new students arriving prior to the start of term at Durham University, on Sunday.

Durham city centre traditionally comes to a semi-standstill on the Sunday at the start of Freshers' Week, as the new intake of undergraduates arrive at the university's 13 colleges.

Durham Police have co-operated with the university to try to prevent a bottle neck which could build up in the city centre .

Similar measures have operated successfully for the past nine years on what has become known as Freshers' Day, as an estimated 2,500 arrive at the university's city centre colleges.

About 700 cars are expected to need access to the peninsula, bound for colleges at the Castle, along the Baileys and other student accommodation on parts of Saddler Street.

A continuous flow of vehicles is expected between 10am and 4pm.

Permits have been issued to new students and their families, allowing access to the peninsula for an hour each, at an allocated time.

Once they have unloaded their belongings they will be directed to car parks elsewhere in the city.

In a bid to reduce disruption, police have asked that all vehicles be cleared from street parking spaces on North and South Bailey peninsula by 6pm on Saturday.

Residents and students are asked not to leave their vehicles on Palace Green or parked in surrounding streets until after 4pm on Sunday.

The traffic control measures apply to Sunday only, two days prior to the introduction of the much-heralded tolls at the entrance to the Market Place on the peninsula.

A £2 toll charge will be levied on all non-permit holding motorists leaving the peninsula between the hours of 10am and 4pm on Mondays to Saturdays.