AN ailing North-East airport has been given the go-ahead to turn its long-stay car park into a caravan storage area in an attempt to boost its income.

Members of Darlington Borough Council’s planning committee said the authority needed to do ‘all it can’ to support Durham Tees Valley airport as it struggles in the economic downturn.

The airport's majority shareholder, Peel Holdings, will change a section of the car park - with more than 900 parking spaces turned into a storage area for up to 350 caravans, motorhomes and other vehicles.

The application was criticised by local councillor Doris Jones who questioned why Peel were concentrating on caravans rather than airplanes.

The airport’s 1.7 hectare long-stay car park was cordoned off after it became surplus to requirements due to a sharp fall in passenger numbers in recent years.

The move to create the caravan storage park, which will be in place for three years, was defended by the airport’s commercial director Andy Foulds.

He said the company had to maximise all potential business opportunities for the airport in order to keep it sustainable.

Planning committee chairman Paul Baldwin said: “We need to do all we can to help the airport remain open for business. Once the economy does pick up they can carry on with business.

“Given the current economic circumstances, I would hope that we support this.”

Coun Jones, whose Middleton St George ward includes part of the airport, said: “I’m greatly concerned that the best the management team at Peel can come up with to improve the airport is to put caravans on there.

“Why caravans, not airlines? This represents a huge failure by Peel to manage the airport in a productive way.”

The decision to allow the change goes against the council’s own planning policy, which states that all economic activity within the airport’s grounds should be connected to the operation of the airport.

Planning officer David Coates told members that if the application had been for a permanent change he would have advised them to reject it, but that a three-year temporary change was acceptable while the airport worked to increase passenger numbers.