THE village green at Staindrop is being regularly churned up with tyre marks by a policeman "who should know better", according to his local council.

Det Con Geoff Wall, who is based at Barnard Castle, parks his car on North Green and also puts out cones to stop any parking in front of the police house so that he can park his caravan, members of Staindrop Parish Council heard at their latest meeting.

Coun Barbara Hetherington, who did not name Det Con Wall personally, referring to him only as "someone who would know the law", told of a run-in between the policeman and former parish council chairman, Coun William Trotter.

"Coun Trotter approached him about the matter some time ago and he became abusive," she said. "When we are constantly in the Press as badgering the landlord of the Wheatsheaf over the leg of an advertising board on the green, we should be writing to this man and taking some action if he persists."

Coun Trotter, who was not at the meeting, spoke to the D&S Times later, confirming that he had raised the matter with the officer in the past.

"The problem arose when, if another vehicle was parked outside his house, he then parked on the green," said Coun Trotter. "He told me he needed the car nearby in case of emergency. But if the police believe he has a divine right to park there, they would provide a designated bay in front of his house and notify us. That has not happened and therefore he should abide by the law like everyone else."

Coun Hetherington said Det Con Wall's parking on the green was a regular event. The police were not interested because it was a civil matter that had to be pursued by the parish council.

"Joe Public is not happy," she added. "We have got to be consistent. This is a persistent problem."

Insp David Allaway of Barnard Castle police said: "At the moment, it would appear that this dispute is a civil matter between a resident of the village, who happens to be a policeman, and the parish council.

"Unless the circumstances are brought to my attention, there is very little I can do. And, even if I had all the facts and bylaws in front of me, that might still be the case if it turns out to be a civil rather than a police matter."

In the meantime, the clerk, Mr Joe Hodgson, has written to Det Con Wall, who is currently on sick leave, telling of the council's concerns and asking him not to park on the green, and is awaiting a reply before members decide whether further action is necessary.

In response, Det Con Wall, who was one of the police team which recovered a valuable mechanical mouse stolen from the Bowes museum, said yesterday he did not accept that he had been persistently parking on the green. Nor was it true that he had had a run-in with the previous chairman.

Out of all the residents in Staindrop, he was the only one who had been written to and he felt he was being singled out when lots of other people parked on the green.

"I will be writing to the clerk to say that I have parked on the green on very rare occasions," he said. "I have probably parked two wheels there maybe twice in the last 12 months. But I will not do it any more."

With regard to the placing of traffic cones, Det Con Wall said that was a matter for the highways authority, not the parish council