CHANGES are being made to Darlington's car parks to attract more shoppers into the town centre.

Darlington Borough Council wants to turn three long-stay car parks into short-stay ones, because it believes it will generate more business for local stores.

Two car parks further out of the centre are being considered for conversion to long-stay provision, to allow people who work in the area to have regular parking places.

But the proposal is likely to upset regular commuters, many of whom believe there will be a shortage of long-term spaces and that they will have further to walk to their workplaces.

From April 2, the long-stay car parks in Garden Street, Archer Street and Kendrew Street East are changing to short-stay, while the council is looking at converting those at the cattle market and Chesnut Street into long-stay car parks.

A council spokesman said the main reasoning behind switching the car parks to short-stay was their closeness to the town centre.

He said a proposed leisure development opposite the Feethams bus station would reduce town centre parking, increasing the need for spaces.

"The Feethams development will take away some of the short-stay spaces there. It is trying to get the balance of encouraging enough short-term spaces for shoppers and making sure there are enough long-stay for commuters," he said.

"Commuters tend to be the ones who you put further out."

But one commuter said: "We are the people who are in the town day-in, day-out, and the council should be thinking about us.

"Most days I go into the town centre and shop, or buy something to eat, so the long-stay car parks are serving the shops as well. I don't see why we should have to walk even further to get to work.