PEOPLE are warning that someone will be killed or seriously injured on their Darlington estate, if the council does not address traffic problems.

Residents in the Mowden area of town say they are tired of having to dodge parked cars to get to their homes.

The cars belong to people working at the Capita and Department for Education and Employment offices and are causing problems in Staindrop Road, Barnes Road and other streets near the offices.

Residents say the problem has been going on for eight years, but there now seem to be even more cars being parked along the roads.

They are calling on Darlington Borough Council to take steps to resolve the problem before there is a fatal or serious road accident.

Richard Matthews, who lives in Parkland Drive, Darlington, recently had a near miss when he was overtaking stationary vehicles on Staindrop Road.

In a letter to the council he said: "A large lorry was travelling towards me and I had to take action to avoid hitting it, whilst at the same time avoiding the parked vehicles.

"I have, for some time, thought that there could be an accident due to the parked vehicles, especially around the bend, with poorly restricted vision due to the presence of trees."

Ward councillor Bill Stenson said there were recently 145 cars parked in the area and he believes the only solution is to put parking restrictions on some of the roads.

"I think it would take an accident before anything is done about it and that is just disgraceful. "I would hold the council responsible if there was an accident because it has had plenty of time to sort this problem out," he said.

In a reply to Coun Stenson, the council's transport policy manager, Ann Carruthers, says where parking is causing a road safety problem, the authority will address each issue on an individual basis.

She says the Department for Education and Employment and Capita had carried out a staff survey to establish where people are travelling from and would ask some workers to consider car sharing. Bus company Stagecoach is also interested in operating a park and ride service from the Faverdale area of town to Mowden Hall.