PLANS to cut the blaze of light coming from Durham's new shopping centre have been given a lukewarm welcome.

The lights shining through the night from the seven-storey car park at the back of the Prince Bishops Shopping Centre have been a bugbear for The City of Durham Trust since the complex opened two years ago.

The conservation group has been pressing for more sensitive lighting - along with the removal of green tiles on the outside of the building, overlooking Elvet Bridge and the River Wear.

Members say the lighting overwhelms the delicate lighting of Elvet Bridge and the city's cathedral and castle.

Now Grosvenor Estate Holdings, which bought the centre for £48.5m from developors Boots Properties last year, plans to tone down the lighting.

The company will shut upper floors of the car park at night and introduce monitors which will turn on the lights only when someone is using it.

The move - there are also plans for environmental improvements such as the installation of benches, pot plants and seats outside cafes in the shopping centre - was prompted by an environmental assessment which showed the firm how it could reduce the electricity bill for the centre.

But City of Durham Trust chairman Roger Cornwell said: "We have complained almost from day one about the light spillage from the car park. It is so obvious as you are coming down from the Gilesgate end of Durham.

"The answer we would rather see is that they put proper shutters on the windows.

"If they turn the lights off in the early hours, there will not be many people around to see them anyway, and I think there will be a problem with security. I don't think this is a solution that pleases anyone."