A PLAN to create 160 extra car parking spaces in a North-East town centre has been delayed.

Darlington Borough Council hoped to take over the NCP car park in East Street and open its upper deck on April 1.

A spokesman for the authority, which owns the car park but leases it to NCP, said ongoing negotiations with NCP meant that would not happen, and could not say when the upper deck would open.

Darlington has had 200 fewer car parking spaces than normal since the closure of the Crown Street car park for building work last month.

But the spokesman said there was not a car parking shortage in the town.

He said: "If you are just coming into town looking for car parking, there are plenty of spaces. At the moment, we are down 200, but when East Street opens, we will be down only about 40. At the moment, we have not got a problem with car parking."