DARLINGTON'S North Road railway station is near the bottom of a standards league table.

The standards at the station, and those at Teesside International Airport, are considered to fall below what is considered an acceptable minimum.

The findings were made in a review carried out for the Tees Valley Joint Strategy Committee, which wanted to look at the facilities at stations in the Tees Valley area, and consider the viability of building new ones.

A spokesman for the committee said: "The aim was to collect base-line information and draw up a list of standards to be used as an acceptable minimum for facilities at all Tees Valley stations.

"Key themes, such as signing, accessibility, information, parking, security, safety and comfort, were assessed at each station."

A set of new standards has now been circulated to all the Tees Valley authorities and Northern Spirit to ensure better facilities for passengers.

The spokesman said: "It is accompanied by a checklist that shows which standards are met at each station and importantly which are not.

"The draft document supplies the background information behind the results, which largely indicate that standards at many stations fall below what is considered to be an acceptable minimum."

Among the other stations close to the bottom of the league table were: Seaton Carew, Hartlepool, and South Bank, Middlesbrough. Better performers were Yarm, Eaglescliffe and Stockton.