POLICE have dropped a "bombshell" on the thorny issue of parking in Northallerton - by revealing only operational vehicles and those of senior officers will be able to park at their new HQ in the town.

The decision will mean hundreds of staff will need to park elsewhere in the town - where parking is already a problem.

Concerns had already been expressed over potentially hundreds of extra vehicles having to be accommodated at the new HQ at Alverton Court, formerly the home of the Rural Payments Agency which pulled out in 2013.

The town is already beset by parking issues and after years of complaints over staff from North Yorkshire County Council parking in streets around the town, extra parking is being provided at County Hall.

At a meeting of the county's Hambleton Area Highways Committee Inspector David Murray revealed a special group has been set up solely to address parking concerns at Alverton Court.

He told councillors the terms of reference were: "There will be no staff parking at Alverton Court, the challenge is to accommodate all staff in and around Northallerton.”

Committee chair Cllr David Blades said: "That is a bit of a bombshell. I didn’t realise that, I thought you would try to get as many staff in as possible.

“There is a lot of concern. I have been trying my hardest as the local representative and this is a huge challenge, not to block the car parks of Northallerton. We need to see the transport plan.”

Insp Hunter said only operational vehicles, marked and unmarked, and senior officers would be parking on the site at Alverton Court which has around 160 spaces.

Cllr Caroline Dickinson asked: “Where do they expect the staff to park?

"We have big problems in Northallerton and we are going to have more and more cars. I think an awful lot of thought needs to go into where the staff will park.”

Cllr Gareth Dadd said they had to look at the benefits, and the alternatives, and the fact that the police headquarters could have moved elsewhere.

“With economic benefits will always come challenges. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that the benefits might outweigh the problems,” he added.

Cllr Blades said they were aware of the benefits and the move into the town was very welcome - but stressed there were also big concerns.

North Yorkshire Police are due to start moving into the new headquarters in the summer.