A PUBLIC meeting will decide the fate of a village play park being targeted for a housing site.

The offer by Miller Homes has created bitter division in Middleton St George, where tempers flared at Monday's parish council meeting.

The plan opens up the possibility of a new sports hall and community centre, a replacement play park and a football field at the water park.

There was standing room only in the tiny boardroom - and others left outside - when parish council chairman, Coun Brian Jones, made the announcement.

"We will hold a public meeting in a bigger place so this can be discussed fairly and properly," he said. "The issue, to my mind, has got slightly out of hand.

"I have always made it clear that the decision would be made by the people living in the village, not by us. We are only ten and there are three or four thousand of you. We have nothing whatsoever to hide."

At the end of the meeting, a distressed Mrs June Hall accused the parish council of pointing the finger at her over inflammatory posters in the village.

"I had a telephone call at tea time from the borough council ordering me to take them down.

Coun Ron Dawson assured her: "No parish councillor did any such thing."

But she retorted: "The only person that knows that is the person that did it."

The chairman declared: "Your comments about the council are out of hand."

Other objectors joined in the angry scene and community policeman PC Karl Low had to calm and clear the room.

Mrs Hall told the D&S Times: "I have got up a petition against any more houses anywhere in the village. I don't think we have the facilities at the school or the surgery. But I had nothing to do with the posters. Some were 6ft up telegraph poles."

The playing field is jointly owned by the village's two parish councils.

On Wednesday, Mrs Hall handed over her petition at Low Dinsdale Parish Council where chairman, Coun Frank Richardson, stated: "You can rest assured this council will never sell this playing field, because it is in the right place and everybody knows that."

However, one resident of 27 years said: "I have always found this a lovely place to live. But I am very sad at the bitterness this has caused."

The chairman stressed: "There is no feud between us two chairman. We always talk things over."

l Earlier, Mr Terry Collins, head of Darlington's leisure services, said he would be unable to adopt and maintain the equipment on the play park, because of the proposed sale. But in any case, it could have to queue for years to qualify for anything extra.

He said the risk assessment, following an accident on the swings, showed no other urgent work needed to be carried out. He agreed new chains and seats could be relatively cheap, but the parishes would have to pay.

l Parish council round-up: page 8.