COUNCIL plans to take on powers for fining illegal parkers have been criticised by a leading councillor.

Liberal Democrat Coun Peter Freitag said the policy would penalise motorists, whereas the authoritys focus should be on providing better parking facilities to attract more shoppers to the town.

Darlington Borough Council is to ask the Government for permission to take on enforcement of illegal on-street parking from the police.

"I am fully supportive of the attempt to act against illegal parking, but we are overlooking our duty to provide adequate parking," said Coun Freitag.

"I get a lot of complaints about parking in Darlington.

"A lot of the congestion in this town is caused by people looking for parking spaces. Hospital parking is oversubscribed, and the Pedestrian Heart is no friendly to disabled people.

"There are double yellow lines next to Feethams, which are ancient, and a relic from the days when you would get thousands of people going to football matches there.

"The car parking spaces around Grange Road and Coniscliffe Road are reserved for taxis, which dont wont them. They are only used occasionally in the evening.

"People who want to visit the banks or the shops in the town have trouble parking.

"It is an important issue. I have lots of evidence of people electing to shop at Teesside because of the inadequate parking in Darlington.

"Instead of looking to raise more money from motorists, the council should concentrate on spending the money it already has on improving facilities."

A council spokeswoman said: "The proposal is not about making money - it is aimed at reducing incidents of inconsiderate, illegal and anti-social parking in the Borough. Any money coming in will go back into improving the highways.

"Many businesses support this because inconsiderate parking is bad for the town centre. Our data shows that there are sufficient parking spaces in Darlington."