THE PROSPECT of a busy thoroughfare on Durham's city centre peninsula becoming one of the country's first toll roads is looming closer.

Following a lengthy public consultation exercise, the county highways authority is putting forward proposals for a £2 peak-hour charge for vehicles using Saddler Street, the narrow road leading from the Market Place to Durham Cathedral and castle.

The fee would be paid at a barrier as vehicles leave the peninsula on Mondays to Saturdays, between 10am and 4pm.

Under proposals being considered by the county council executive tomorrow, peninsula residents would be exempted from the toll.

In a further attempt to reduce morning rush-hour traffic congestion, a loading ban would be introduced in some areas, between 8am and 10am.

Other authorised user groups, apart from residents, would be entitled to permits depending on the availability of parking spaces.

Funds raised from the toll would be used to improve Durham's Shopmobility scheme to help less abled people get around the city centre.

Public transport would also be improved by the introduction of a low-floor easily accessible bus.

Chris Tunstall, the county council's director of environment and technical services, said as a result of the consultation exercise, 456 responses were received after the distribution of 10,000 information leaflets, containing pre-paid reply cards.

The vast majority of replies agreed that, "a do nothing" option to traffic problems on the peninsula was, simply not tenable.

"While the majority of respondents expressed concerns about the operational difficulties of such a scheme, few expressed outright objection to the proposals," he said.

Mr Tunstall recommends that councillors agree to a formal period of consultation on the introduction of a traffic order, containing the proposals.

Should no objections be received, the order will be submitted to Environment Secretary John Prescott for final approval