PEOPLE who live near a Bishop Auckland primary school are renewing their calls for parents to walk their children to school to stop traffic chaos on their street.

People living yards from the school in Lindsay Street have become increasingly frustrated over the problems caused at the beginning and end of the school day.

Phillip Jones, who lives in the street, said: "We've had quite a few problems with congestion, noise, near misses and even verbal abuse, and nothing has been done.

"They just use Lindsay Street as a race track. They double-park, and the residents can't even get out of their own houses.

"They should use the front entrance at Clarence Gardens instead of the back. If it continues, we'll have a situation in future where some one will get killed."

Bishop Auckland Liberal Democrat Councillor Stephen Gregory said he was working with Durham County Council and the school to find a solution.

"We've been looking at ideas such as utilising part of the recreation ground as a drop-off and collection point, or the lower school field to take some of the traffic away," said Coun Gregory, who sits on the district and county council.

"But it's going to take time to identify funding and for planning permission to be passed.

"It is a major concern, and I fully understand the problems they have. The main difficulty is you have people who live 200 yards away getting in their cars and bringing their kids to school."

One possible solution is a walking bus scheme, a system where parents and their children join each other on the way to school.

Etherley Lane headteacher Stephen Copeland said he frequently urged parents to walk their children to school, and said he was working with Coun Gregory to develop the walking bus scheme.

A spokeswoman for Durham County Council said some traffic management measures had been introduced to improve road safety near the school, including "keep clear" signs and road markings