CONCERN regarding a public footpath in Barnard Castle escalated this week after part of a wall collapsed.

The area round the castle in the town has been monitored for some time after part of another footpath was washed away by high water in the River Tees last year.

There had been earlier calls for a full survey after Transco sealed off a gas main disturbed by the earlier incident, saying it planned to re-route the main and had no plans to reinstate the path.

But after the latest incident, Coun Newton Wood, chairman of Teesdale District Council, and Coun John Watson, who serves on the district and town councils, called for a full safety survey.

Coun Wood said: "There is a clear need for a survey, which is the county council's responsibility.

"I have been concerned about this area for some time and regular checks have shown subsidence, which is obviously a worry."

But local authority officials were quick to stress that there was no threat of subsidence to the medieval stronghold, which stands on a rocky outcrop above the Tees.

Mr Alf Wilkinson, the council's technical and contracts manager, said it was not clear whether the wall had fallen away or been pushed.

"The county council has installed steel pins into the footpath, which it is monitoring, and there are two other walls between that one and the river, and they are intact," he added.