SENIOR councillors last night agreed to ban the sale of replica guns and fireworks at an outdoor market.

Members of Darlington Borough Council's cabinet approved a new set of regulations at a meeting in the town hall.

The rules for the town's market incorporate a ban on the sale of ornamental weapons, replica guns, fireworks or anything else that officers consider to be a risk to public safety.

The new controls also deal with the behaviour of traders and their employees, and stress that council officials can remove people who are causing a nuisance.

The move comes just days after The Northern Echo was able to buy a pellet gun similar to an AR-M4SF assault rifle for just £20 at the outdoor market in Stanley, County Durham.

Police chiefs have also voiced concerns that someone carrying such replicas could be shot by armed officers who believed them to be a deadly weapon.

Yesterday, Derwentside District Council said its markets - including the one at Stanley - were run by an external contractor.

Gerard Darby, the council's head of land and property, said: "We have an agreement with the external contractor, but we can't tell them what to sell or not, providing there's nothing illegal.

"The wording of the contract actually says the markets will be run 'for the sale of any product permitted by law'."

But Mr Darby said that, following the publicity about the replica assault rifles, the council planned to write to the Worcestershire-based contractor.

"We'll be asking if they intend to do anything, being a responsible market operator," he said.