RESIDENTS of a Durham suburb are being backed by their MP in fighting a ban on parking outside their homes.

People in The Sands have needed permits to park in the road since Durham County Council introduced on-street parking restrictions across the city centre to combat congestion.

Now they are being told that they will lose one or both of the two permits allocated to each household if they have off-street parking.

A group of residents is fighting the changes and has won the backing of the city's Labour MP, Gerry Steinberg.

They will be meeting county officials to discuss their concerns.

One member of the action group, Wearside Drive resident Mel French, said the first time people became aware of the ban was when they went to renew their annual permits.

"It will be very inconvenient for some people, because in some roads the drives are little more than accesses. The garages were built in the 1960s and are not big enough for a medium-sized modern car.

"The roads are cul-de-sacs, so it is not as if through traffic is being obstructed.''

Mr Steinberg said: "If the county council is not prepared to review the regulations, we will have a situation where residents will not be able to park in front of their own homes, even if the streets are deserted.''

But a council spokesman said: "The parking permit system is designed to offer a fair distribution of on-street parking spaces and its provisions - including that which states a garage and a driveway should be considered as two parking spaces - were agreed by residents across the city as a whole when the scheme was drawn up.

"Previously, when residents applied for on-street parking permits, they were asked verbally whether they had alternative parking provision and we found that the answers given did not always correspond with the situation that existed.

"Since we introduced a written application process, some people consider their eligibility has changed, whereas it has not changed at all."

"However, we are keen to resolve any problems which people feel may exist and have arranged a meeting later this week with the local county councillor and the city's MP to discuss the situation."