RESIDENTS in Darlington may be charged to park outside their houses in the future.

A report is to be considered by Darlington Borough Council's Cabinet members next week to decide whether residents should pay for parking permit schemes.

At present 1,115 residents parking permits are in operation in the town, covering four zones operating from 8am to 6pm Monday to Saturday.

The schemes, which were introduced between 1992 and 2000, were all in response to requests from residents and are enforced by the council's car parking wardens.

Two new schemes are also to be considered in the town in response to parking problems in the Stanhope Road and Victoria Embankment areas.

These should come into operation within 18 months, after the consultation process has been completed, adding a further 1,000 new permits.

At present residents can apply for a permit for each car they drive and there is no charge, but under the new proposals existing permit holders will have to pay £25 a year to park within the restricted areas.

Residents wanting a permit for one of the new schemes will have to pay £50 for the first year, to help offset the implementation costs, and £25 each year thereafter.

The cost of administering and enforcing residents' parking schemes and implementing the two new ones will be £107,000, and the proposal to introduce charges for permits will help cover this.

Nick Wallis, the council's cabinet member for Highways and Transport, said: "We cannot take these new schemes forward unless we set a charge to offset the costs of introducing them and the costs of administering and enforcing existing schemes."

Residents do not have to take part in the parking permit schemes, but if they opt out, they will not be able to park in restricted areas, only in the free-for-all sections of on-street parking.

Residents living near the new football ground will not be charged for their parking permits, as those schemes are a condition of the planning permission for the stadium.