A FORMER Darlington mayor and his partner are locked in a dispute with neighbours over an untaxed car standing on a tiny patch of land.

Councillor David Lyonette, a member of Darlington Borough Council's cabinet, and his girlfriend, Angela Carlyon, say they have asked police to mediate to try to resolve the five-year dispute.

It concerns an untaxed D-registered Saab car that Ms Carlyon, a horticulturist, parked outside her house in Kennel Lane, off Haughton Green, in 1999, on a strip of land not belonging to anyone.

Neighbours Robert and Joan Archbold, and fiancees Pat Robson and Robert Walker, say the unregistered land was previously a communal garden.

They say Ms Carlyon had no right to block pave the area and that her car is an eyesore in the lane.

"Who wants to look out at that?" said Mrs Archbold.

"The residents used to sit out there and enjoy the land. All we want now is for the land to be as it should be."

Ms Carlyon has planning permission to build a garage which she would only be able to access via the land.

She said she wanted to move the car but was worried her neighbours would remove the paving and put plants there.

"Before I put my car on it nobody ever, ever came and sat on that piece of land," she said.

"There certainly wasn't a garden when I moved in. I want the land to be a turning circle for cars. It would be for everybody's benefit, as parking is such a problem down here.

"It is a stand-off. But I'm more than willing to move the car if they will allow me to have access to my property."

Coun Lyonette said: "Angela has offered four or five times to get around the table and try to come to an agreement. We have now asked the police to set up a meeting and are waiting for them to come back to us."

A council spokesman said: "The only reason we can't move the car is because we can't establish who owns the land. The land dispute is a civil matter. The car is not an abandoned car."