AN MP whose city has suffered a string of tragic river deaths has criticised safety chiefs for ploughing ahead with new anti-drowning measures without consulting “permanent residents”.

Last week, Durham City’s Safety Group said it would spend £230,000 on installing riverside fences and lights and improving footpaths and riverbanks.

The changes are supported by Durham County Council, Durham University, Durham Students’ Union and Durham Cathedral – the major riverbanks landowner.

But Durham City MP Roberta Blackman-Woods said permanent residents have not been given their say.

“I was concerned to see that consultation on the safety proposals has taken place with a number of stakeholders, including students, but it seems that permanent residents within the city have not been given an opportunity to have their say on the plans,” she said.

“It is vitally important that before work begins along the riverbanks (scheduled for July), local residents are given an opportunity to give their views on this scheme.

“I have written to Durham County Council to insist that they seek the views of those who live within Durham City and surrounding villages before work commences.”

But Terry Collins, chair of the Safety Group, rejected the MP’s call for further consultation, saying given the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) had declared the stretch between Framwelgate and Prebends bridges on the opposite bank to the Cathedral as being high risk, any delay would be inappropriate.

“The response from the public at large has been extremely positive. I would strongly encourage people to go and look at the display up in Gala windows to view the improvements,” he added.

The issue threatens to further divide “town and gown” in the city; with many residents already angry at student drunkenness and some students feeling let down by the police and hounded by residents.

The safety drive was prompted by the deaths of Durham University students Sope Peters, Luke Pearce and Euan Coulthard in the Wear between October 2013 and this January.

A so-called drunk tank, riverside angels and pub-door breath tests have also been introduced, along with better taxi and night bus services and a major education campaign.