CAMPAIGNERS behind a plan to bring a directly-elected mayor to Darlington have been collecting names for their petition on the town's High Row.

The Darlington Referendum Group needs to collect just under 4,000 names to force Darlington Borough Council to hold a referendum on the issue.

If appointed, a Darlington mayor would have the same powers as Middlesbrough mayor Ray Mallon and Hartlepool mayor Stuart Drummond.

Members of the Referendum Group include Mike and Gill Cartright, who fought to save the White Horse Hotel, in North Road, from demolition.

Mr Cartright said: "There is a lot of support in the Harrowgate Hill area. People are unhappy with the way the council is running things.

"We have started collecting names by going door-to-door in the area."

Some members of the Darlington Civic Trust and some parents from the village of Hurworth, who fought the council over plans to close the village secondary school, are also involved.

Last year, the Civic Trust collected 4,600 names on a petition in an attempt to save the Victorian steps, railings and balustrades on High Row, which were to be removed as part of the Pedestrian Heart project, but their campaign failed.

Trust member Ian Dougill said: "We could easily be twinned with North Korea in Darlington; the council will just not listen to people's views. The Pedestrian Heart was steamrollered through.

"It is awful to have to collect a petition for the second time in one year."

Jan Mazurk, who is organising the petition, said it was going well. The group aims to have collected enough signatures by the end of the month.