INCREASED car parking charges for council workers could be introduced to encourage employees to leave their cars at home.

The charges could form part of Darlington Borough Council's employee travel plan to improve the environment and encourage other businesses to be more environmentally conscious.

Other long-term proposals to reduce the use of cars include getting people to work from home and increasing the use of tele-conferencing so people do not have to travel to meetings.

John Buxton, the council's director of development and environment, said: "The impact the plan can have on changing staff travel behaviour must not be over estimated. A ten per cent change from car use, single person occupancy, to other options over a five-year period should be regarded as a success."

More immediate changes are being brought in by the council to help car owners be more environmentally-friendly.

It hopes to have a car-sharing database running by the end of the year so people who want to car share can be paired off.

The council is also hoping to increase the number of bike facilities, as well as promoting those already available to staff, as well as starting a bike-loan system.

All staff have been given a leaflet about the employee travel plan, pointing out what they can do to help and what benefits they would get from turning to alternative methods of transport.