PLANNERS, university chiefs and traffic experts were criticised by a leading conservationist for spoiling the city of Durham, during a packed public meeting at the weekend.

Secretary of the Durham City Trust, Dr Douglas Pocock, attacked a number of ongoing planning developments, including the decision to demolish the city's boathouse, and radical parking control developments.

The geologist catalogued a series of historic planning "disasters" which he said had "tarnished the perfection of Durham".

Mr Pocock criticised the three-year-old Prince Bishops Shopping Centre, which he called the city's biggest disaster and the decision earlier this month to allow developers to destroy the boathouse and replace it with a 1,000-capacity pub.

He then attacked a number of smaller changes, including the siting of security cameras outside the cathedral and Elvet Bridge, the "reinventing" of the ancient Sadler Street and the proliferation of parking controls.

He said the cameras, ticket machines and road markings were cluttering the townscape. He added that the reflooring of Sadler Street was creating a seamless join from the Market Place to the peninsula.

Dr Pocock also turned his attention to the university, which he said had created bland buildings such as the Elvet Riverside. But speaking after the meeting, Dr Pocock said the Durham Trust welcomed the construction of the Millennium Building conference centre and theatre.

Speaking to more than 100 members of the public at Durham University on Saturday, he said: "I have spoken on the attractive qualities of the city many times and I have not changed my mind, but there has been a host of examples which have contributed to the distinctive erosion of the city. That deterioration has been planned . . . The perfection of our little city has been tarnished."

After the meeting, Dr Pocock said the depth of feeling on planning issues in Durham was highlighted by the 4,000-name petition against the boathouse development. He said the mood at the meeting had been "one of sadness".

Leader of Durham City Council Maurice Crathorne dismissed the criticisms.

He said: "We are used to wild statements from Dr Pocock. For example, he was proved wrong on the boathouse when an independent report said objections that the new building would be out of keeping in the area were well wide of the mark. He has been proved wrong on many occasions."