A COUNCILLOR facing a £60 fine for parking his car eight inches outside a bay is forming a campaign group for disabled drivers in Darlington.

Councillor Peter Freitag said the Disabled Drivers Action Group (DDAG) would support disabled drivers, campaign for more disabled spaces - and campaign for more spaces in busy areas.

Coun Freitag was "inundated"

with calls after the story of his parking fine appeared in The Northern Echo last week.

He received it after leaving his car - which has a disabled badge - eight inches into a disabled bay's yellow hatched area. The £30 fine has since doubled, but the Liberal Democrat councillor has vowed to fight it.

He said Darlington Borough Council uses parking fines as an "indirect taxation" - and, according to Coun Freitag, many of the town's residents agree.

"I have been inundated with calls from people, agreeing with what I said," said Coun Freitag.

"It seems a lot of people also believe the current parking fines system is unfair.

"I want to set up a group for disabled drivers, to speak to them about what the issues are. There is a scarcity of parking places, and those we have often aren't in the places people want to park.

"Hopefully, we can get together, and try to do something about it."

On Friday, Chris Jones, from Darlington, wrote to The Northern Echo's letters section Hear All Sides: "How does the council justify the parking in its twolevel car park above Wilkinson's?

"It has several hundred spaces, but only two are set aside for disabled users, and, due to a large concrete pillar, only one of these has access for wheelchairs.

"With this evidence, I tend to agree with Coun Freitag that the council's concern for the disabled only comes to light when it can make money out of it."

After Coun Freitag's story, The Northern Echo was contacted by the national parking website appealnow.com, praising Coun Freitag for his opposition and encouraging him to appeal.

But a council spokesman said: "There are dozens of disabled parking spaces throughout the town centre and the council aims to include them in its car parks wherever possible."

To join Coun Freitag's campaign, call him on 01325-464068.