THE planning and architecture of Durham City could not get worse.

I think it will end up like a scene from a modern-day Dickens novel, no planning or thought has gone into it.

They are building modern day squalor every where you look. It’s like a new version of the Shambles inYork. This is creating a very unhealthy environment for the future.

The flats built behind Durham Market make it look just like a rabbit warren.

The same thing is happening all over the city. There has been no thought as to where people will park. For example, flats for 200 students are to be built on the old scrapyard, near the A690 Gilesgate, but when Durham County Council was asked about parking facilities it said none would be needed as it was building bicycle stands.

But it knows as well as anyone else that students will have cars.

Peter Jefferies, Durham City