SUGGESTIONS to improve parking at NHS facilities in Darlington have been rejected by the borough council.

Darlington and Teesdale Community Health Council (CHC) wrote to the council suggesting ways in which parking could be improved at Darlington Memorial Hospital and the Park Place health centre.

The comments were made as part of the council's consultation on the future of car parking in the town.

In the letter, chief officer Graham Girvan said it was unfair that patients visiting the health centre had to pay to park in the nearby car park and asked if it would be possible for free spaces to be included in the parking plan.

In reply, transport policy manager Ann Carruthers said no exceptions could be made for patients in case groups visiting other places in the town, such as the magistrates' court, also called for free parking.

She said: "Land is at a premium in the town centre and demand for car parking space is high. In order to both manage this demand and to pay for the service of providing and maintaining car parking, a charge must be made."

She said consultation was continuing into the possibility of limited waiting spaces being provided outside the centre.

A suggestion that more spaces could be provided when the Pierremont Unit was closed was also rejected.

Ms Carruthers said both local and national policy meant that no extra spaces could be provided without addressing the issue of drivers using their cars too frequently.