A councillor is hoping to 'speak for the people' and ask council for resident permits in a popular carpark that will have major upcoming changes to it.

Cllr Suzanne Fairless-Aitken is hoping to ask Northumberland County Council (NCC) for atleast 50 resident parking spaces at Wentworth Leisure Centre in Hexham.

The request for some Hexham residents to have permits is after NCC announced upcoming changes to the carpark, which will change the use of longstay car spaces to be only 4 hours maximum - moving those who need all day parking to the new site at Alemouth Road, which is not yet built.

Motorists can use the new site carpark for 72 hours, no parking disc and will be free of charge.

NCC announced the changes earlier in the month after a consultation and report was put together in 2017.

The report highlighted and predicted the towns future of parking with solutions of how to improve it.

It is hoped that the new changes will provide 'less trouble' finding car spaces when using the facilities at Wentworth including the leisure centre.

Although the new carpark will have 250 car spaces compared to 240, which Wentworth currently has, it will be a considerable distance away from the town centre which residents will fear put tourists off. 

Changes to the carpark will start 'soon' after work at Alemouth Road, formally the bunker site where Mc Donalds and Premiere Inn is.

Cllr Fairless-Aitken said: "'I am addressing the long-term parking issues with NCC.

"I really do understand residents' frustrations and concerns with this as NCC have announced it all very quickly without really anticipating any problems.

"Hopefully they will trial it for a few months and then review it to make sure it works and that the switchover is as smooth as possible.

"People shouldn't overreact, as essentially NCC have bought more parking for the town, and the county councillors will steer this through properly and address the problems arrising now.

"We have taken it to the public on our Town Council media page which is what it is for."