TRADERS in a town where one in five shops is empty have sent an SOS to a district's 40 councillors.

Twenty retailers have backed a plea from the town's Chamber of Trade for shopper-friendly car parking in the centre of Bishop Auckland.

Visitors will soon have to pay for parking under a council strategy to free up places occupied all day by workers.

The chamber had campaigned for seven years for some free short-term spaces as a way of boosting business.

With more than 40 shops empty in Forebondgate and Newgate Street, it said it is concerned about the growing number of failing small and independent stores.

Spokeswoman Margaret Ellis said: "We felt we had to bring this to the attention of all councillors.

"Too many businesses are failing and we have to act before it is too late.

"Bishop Auckland has always been the traditional shopping centre for the whole of the Wear Valley and its prosperity affects the whole district."

The traders' letter followed the publication of parking charges of at least 30p an hour for central spaces.

Mrs Ellis said: "All we want is for the councillors to listen to us and for consultation to mean something."

She said that Bishop Auckland Town Centre Forum had agreed a two-hour free parking period and quoted John Lockwood's survey of all the UK's major towns which argues that pay-and-display parking damages trade by 70 per cent, reducing both the length of time shoppers stay and the amount of money they spend.

Dozens of Northern Echo readers, questioned through the Shopping for a Future Campaign, said that parking problems kept them away from the town.

The council has ambitious plans to develop and regenerate the Market Place and Bondgate area.

Last week, members approved an £80,000 study for a proposed £2m urban renaissance scheme.

Home and gardens chain Wilkinson is due to open a store on Friday in a Newgate Centre unit left empty by the relocation of Asda in November last year.