AN investigation has been launched after claims a multi-million pound road scheme has breached planning regulations.

Residents called Darlington Borough Council after they saw its £12.5m Eastern Transport Corridor was being built higher than plans allowed for.

People next to the site said the route was being laid on top of a 15ft embankment.

Last night, the council said a 300-yard section of the route next to Coombe Drive, on the town's Red Hall estate, had been laid higher than originally expected.

Council officials immediately launched a probe and have said they will assess the situation this week.

While they say work will not stop on the road, which will link the A66 and McMullen Road, there is concern it might be delayed as a result.

Residents on the Red Hall estate say that if the road was built at its current height, drivers will be able to look in their bedroom windows.

Cyril Johnston, 74, who lives in Goodison Way, said the original plans showed the road, which is about 50 metres away, at ground level.

He said: "When I am looking out of my bedroom window, it's the only thing I can see.

"We were told that the road would be lying on the old railway track, but it looks as if it is going to be built right up on top of an embankment.

"The plans have changed and they should be put forward for everyone to see. This was not part of the plan to go so high -it was never even mentioned.

"We did not want the road in the first place, but we have got to accept it now. But they are having a laugh with this. It is crazy how high it is."

In December, the Government approved the project, which aims to reduce congestion in the town.

The 1.8-mile single carriageway was to be laid along the Stockton-Darlington railway line track bed. Work began in January, and the road is scheduled to open in the summer next year.

A borough council spokesman said: "The road is slightly higher than the original plans at the moment, so we are checking to see whether it is within the limits of the planning approval we have got."

He said a draft report on noise issues will be completed this week.