THE state of a transport network in the region is to be examinied by the North-East's leading business organisation.

The North-East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) is seeking the views of Durham businesses on car use, public transport and the merits of a £10m park-and-ride scheme operating in Durham City.

The chamber's Durham committee has commissioned a questionnaire to identify the challenges businesses face.

John Mowbray, NECC Durham committee chairman, said: "Transport regularly tops the list of issues firms cite as the biggest barrier to business growth.

"We hope this survey will highlight exactly where problems are at their worst and we can then work towards solving them.

"We need as many businesses as possible to feed in to this piece of research to make sure we are aware of every concern."

Among the issues the survey will examine are the level of car-sharing, opinion on the state of public transport and whether companies have adopted environmentally-friendly travel plans for their staff.

Maureen Rigg, NECC Durham policy and representation manager, said: "We need to know what people in business think about transport in general, traffic flow, the efficiency of buses, the new park and ride scheme and local train services.

"We also want to know their views on schemes and activities the chamber should promote in future to help improve and maintain Durham's internal transport links to local markets, its links with the rest of the region, the country and other European and world-wide markets."

The survey will end on January 3.