Overnight stays allowed at riverside car park

OVERNIGHT parking is permitted at a riverside car park, parish councillors in Startforth were told a year after the question was posed to Durham County Council.
Clerk Judith Mashiter told members last month there are no restrictions on the five-bay car parking area, which was created following the demolition of Ullathorne’s Mill in 1975.
The question was first raised after travellers used the area to camp overnight.
The council’s parking services department was unable to provide an answer and the matter was passed to the countryside team which tracked down a copy of the land’s deeds.
These documents confirmed the beauty spot has no rules about overnight parking or camping.