A SPEED hump is to be installed on a busy Consett street despite fears pedestrians will mistake it for a crossing.

Durham County Council plans to take the measure to calm traffic using Nile Street, near pedestrianised Middle Street in the town centre.

The one-way street is near the Britannia Arcade and many people cross it to reach the Middle Street car park.

The highways committee approved the scheme despite an objection from a local taxi firm that pedestrians presumed it was a pedestrian crossing. The objector said the hump should be painted black and white.

Highways director Roger Elphick told the highways committee: "It is inevitable that a regular flow of pedestrians will use this route.

"However the levels of pedestrian and vehicular flow are well below the level at which a formal crossing would be deemed appropriate or justified."

He said that a review of traffic orders in the town could see a ban on waiting and loading on the west side of Nile Street and loading bays installed on the east side, which should reduce the number of vehicles in Nile Street and improve the visibility of pedestrians.

Consett councillor Clive Robson said: "This physical barrier is long overdue. It is one of the busiest car parks in Consett and a lot of people use the crossing into the town centre."