HURWORTH and Middleton St George will have their most competitive parish council elections in years next month.

Of Darlington borough's 12 parishes, nine will not need elections, due to a shortage of candidates.

But Hurworth, Middleton St George, and Heighington all have more candidates than nominees.

Those villages will have parish council elections alongside the borough elections on May 3.

Hurworth has not had a parish council election for at least ten years - but record numbers have put themselves forward this year.

Some residents are angry at the parish council's handling of a proposal to offer Gary Orpen a "buffer zone" between his home and the neighbouring Grange centre, claiming too many meetings have been held behind closed doors.

Nine of the 11 councillors in Hurworth are standing for reelection, with Coun Ian Black and Coun Michelle Ferguson standing down.

Hurworth parish contains three wards. In Blackwell, with one seat, Michelle Edwards will challenge Chris Pratt.

In Hurworth ward, nine candidates will contest the seven seats. They include former Hurworth Community Association trustees Peter Allan, Val Hughes, and Ken Pattison, who resigned due to the pressure of Mr Orpen's threat to sue the council for failing to prevent anti-social behaviour.

Ian Holme, who helped organise the Save Hurworth School campaign, will also stand, as an Independent.

In Hurworth Place ward, there are only four candidates for the four seats.

Middleton St George will be the most competitive of the parish councils. There are 15 nominations for the ten seats, including eight incumbents.

Parish council chairwoman Doris Jones said: "It's never, never been known to have this many candidates.

"I can only say that's a reflection of the excellent job that the parish council does, and people want to be on board."

But Coun Jones had a word of warning for new candidates.

"If people think they can call themselves a councillor due to sitting on one meeting a month then they are in for a big surprise.

"We are a very, very active parish council - not just meeting attenders."

In Heighington, which has nine seats, seven of the ten candidates are incumbents.

Gerald Lee, a parish and borough councillor, said: "Last time there was no election, but prior to that there was. It brings new ideas across, and some of the people are younger, which is nice to see.