Police HQ parking charges welcomed

All staff at Aykley Heads, in Durham, have had to pay a £2 weekly charge to park on the site since December.

The money will pay for the cost of creating 120 extra designated parking spaces.

Yellow lines have also been painted on the long drive into the complex where many staff - and many outsiders - used to park.

Finance and administration director Steve Cheston told the Police Authority that the problems had been caused by the large number of staff who drove to work.

On-street parking charges introduced in the city had also driven people with no police force connections to park at the site.

Staff at the nearby University Hospital of North Durham - formerly Dryburn - also left their vehicles when parking charges were introduced at the hospital.

"We have had people parking their cars and going on to the playing fields and exercising their dogs.

"The upshot is that staff and visitors cannot find parking spaces.

"There will be teething problems, we accept that, but hopefully we can improve the parking situation up there.

"It was very difficult to get up the drive as there was indiscriminate parking on both sides of the drive.

"There was a danger to pedestrians because there is no footpath.

"There is a big difference on the drive now,'' he said.

Chief Constable George Hedges said the scheme had been drawn up by a working party that included members of staff.

The authority also heard that the problems visitors experienced in finding parking spaces had been a regular source of complaint.

Authority member Josephine Fergus, Durham county councillor for Barnard Castle East, expressed support for the scheme.

"It is quite hard to get to headquarters if you have a meeting there, so I welcome it.''

The force spent £140,000 on implementing the scheme, but aims to recoup the outlay from the parking charge.

The annual income of about £45,000 will then be used for maintenance, security and improvements to the site's car parks