A NOTORIOUS dogging site yards from one of the region's busiest roads needs to be "stopped once and for all", a councillor has said.

Councillor Gerald Lee called on Ron Hogg, Durham's Police, Crime and Victims Commissioner, to put an end to the 'unsavoury goings-on' in a layby off the A68 between Darlington and Heighington.

Dogging is engaging in a sexual act in a public place, or watching others do so.

The layby, which is set back from the road, is known for being a dogging hotspot and features an area nicknamed 'The Tunnel of Love'.

For years, it has attracted people all hours of the day and night.

A woman who ran a burger van there until last week said the litter - including used condoms and tissues - discarded there had got out of hand, making it difficult for her to run her business there.

Speaking to Mr Hogg at a Darlington Borough Council meeting, Cllr Lee said: "The layby on the A68 has been used for some most unsavoury goings-on.

"They have been sending police cars so we can get a bit of a reduction in incidents and the council has helped by cutting back shrubs and bushes in the turn-off, but still it continues.

"There are a lot of families who are going on holidays and day trips and such like, who pass by there.

"It just concerns me what would happen if someone would walk past those various goings-on and particularly for children, it would be horrible to see.

"We have got to stop this before it gets to be an even bigger problem."

Sarah Hall, who had a mobile cafe on the site selling burgers and sausages, said: "None of them ever bothered us, they stayed well away from the van, but they did used to drive up and go in the bushes. It was all hours of the day.

"The condoms and used tissues and stuff on the ground were really bad. The people there were in the majority men, and the occasional cross dresser, but they kept out of the way and used to go down this old track which had bushes around it - we used to call it the Tunnel of Love.

"There was also a woman prostitute used to come up on a Tuesday looking for business but I think she was more there for the truckers.

"The whole thing never really bothered me, I say each to their own, and they stayed well away from us.

"But I think it might have put customers off, and the rubbish certainly did."

She said one or two of the truckers checking their mirrors as they pulled out of the layby had sometimes caught sight of men performing sex acts on themselves – but other than that the doggers were quite discreet.

However, Cllr Lee said: "I myself heard of an incident where a young couple were approached to take part in this activity and the young man rather lost his head.

"There was another incident where people were chased through Darlington by an angry man after he had been propositioned.

"I would appreciate it if this could get stopped once and for all," he added.

Mr Hogg promised to speak to Darlington Police and look into the matter to see what more could be done.