PLANS to combat traffic and car parking problems in two County Durham market towns have been welcomed by community leaders and residents.

As part of Durham County Council's efforts to rejuvenate the Teesdale area in the wake of the foot-and-mouth crisis, the authority has vowed to tackle traffic problems in Barnard Castle and Middleton-in-Teesdale.

The county council has already called on residents of both towns to highlight any traffic and parking problems they are experiencing to the authority's strategic traffic section.

The survey will form part of the county council's mini-package for Barnard Castle and Middleton-in-Teesdale in its local transport plan, as well as the recently-formed Teesdale Market Towns Initiative.

A major traffic survey has never been carried out in Middleton-in-Teesdale and existing information regarding parking in Barnard Castle is out of date.

Teesdale District Council and Barnard Castle Town Council member John Watson said that any strategy to ease traffic problems needed to be implemented as soon as possible.

He said: "Parking has been a problem in Barnard Castle for many years, as has congestion in parts of the town, especially during busy periods, so this survey will be welcomed by councillors and residents alike.

"The key areas that need to be looked at in Barnard Castle are improving conditions for pedestrians, particularly the elderly and parents with children in prams.

"There needs to be more pedestrian crossings and strategies to slow traffic down, particularly along the A688 and the B6278 road to Eggleston.

"Another major issue is the number of lorries that use the town as a short cut, that is something that must be addressed.

"In terms of parking, we could look at park and ride or the option of disc parking, which has worked in towns such as Bedale, Northallerton and Harrogate."

Middleton-in-Teesdale has also been badly affected by insufficient parking space for visitors to the town centre, particularly during the peak tourism season during the summer months.

A spokesman for the county council said: "At the moment we are urging people to let us know about any traffic and parking problems so that we can investigate them as part of the strategy."

To highlight a problem write to James Castle, Strategic Traffic Section, Environment and Technical Services, Durham County Council, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UQ