PEOPLE embroiled in an eight-year dispute over car parking in a Darlington street will have their say on improvements.

Home Housing Association tenants living in Wycombe Street have been complaining about the lack of residents' safe on-street parking for nearly a decade.

Following consultations with residents last month, the housing association is planning to redevelop the area.

Tenants feared parking their cars in the private parking area at the back of their homes because a high wall blocked the view of their cars.

Commuters were also parking there, as well as in front of their properties, leaving residents with no car parking space.

Residents have now been sent three designs, drawn by a local artist, of how the area could look.

They must choose which they prefer and return their answers to the association by September 27.

It is hoped that improvement work will start by mid-October.

Tenants will be given keys for collapsible bollards in the car parking area. Security lighting will also be installed.

Kelly Harrison, housing manager at Home Housing Association, said: "Nobody, other than tenants, will be able to park there. We are also changing the landscape of the area to give tenants better views.

"Hopefully the work will be completed by the Christmas shopping period, because that is a bad time for tenants."