POLICE are urging Durham City centre residents to apply for access permits for Miners' Gala day on Saturday, July 9.

Several roads will be closed to all through traffic on the day, from 7.30am until teatime, to allow the bands and marchers to make their way to the racecourse and back to their dispersal points

The ban will apply to Framwelgate Bridge, Market Place, Saddler Street, Owengate, North and South Bailey, Dun Cow Lane, Bow Lane, Silver Street, Elvet Bridge and New Elvet Bridge, Territorial Lane, Elvet Waterside, Court Lane, Elvet Crescent, Old Elvet, New Elvet, Church Street and Whinney Hill.

In New and Old Elvet, no parking will be allowed on gala day from 7.30am onwards.

Apart from buses, no traffic will be allowed in Hallgarth Street between its junction with Church Street/New Elvet and the Stockton Road roundabout.

A new measure this year, for the 121st gala, will see all traffic banned from North Road between 2.30pm and 4.30pm - including buses, which are stopping along the road as an alternative to the bus station during refurbishment.

This afternoon ban is to allow marchers and bands to disperse safely.

Residents and the employees of businesses in the streets affected will still be able to get access at times during the day if they have a permit, which they can apply for from Saturday.

Applications must be made in person at Durham City police office, in New Elvet, and registration details, along with details of where the applicant needs access to, must be provided.

The permits do not guarantee access, which will be at the discretion of officers on traffic control.

Any vehicles parked in New and Old Elvet after the closure order begins could be removed by the police.

Owners will have to pay a £105 recovery fee and a £12 a day storage fee to get them back.