Kinninvie B6278 road closure postponed after short-notice criticism

The northbound B6278 carriageway near Kinninvie, County Durham, would have been closed under the original plans

Council officials have had to postpone plans to shut a road for 18 months to make a crossroads safer after criticism they had only given a week's notice.

Julie Holmes, who runs Hetherick Caravan Park, near Kinninvie, said Durham County Council had failed to consult locals over shutting the B6278.

She said the work would cause a "mess" for customers and residents.

The council said it had since postponed the closure and said it would hold meetings with local residents.

The junction, which has been described as an accident blackspot by locals, has seen a number of crashes and near-misses in recent years.

Earlier this year a house was seriously damaged when a car and van collided at the crossroads, with the car ending up in the dining room.

Julie Holmes runs the Hetherick Caravan Park

Last week the council announced plans to close the B6278 to northbound traffic for 18 months, with vehicles diverted along the B6279.

It said the closure would allow it to "give us time to consider options", possibly including making the temporary closure permanent.

However, the plans have been deemed "inadequate".

"We're concerned," said Mrs Holmes, who runs the caravan park along with husband Chris.

"Our customers can go down to Barnard Castle, but when they come back they are going to have to travel another two or three miles, because the normal road that my customers would make will be closed.

"It may put off a lot of people coming, because they like Barnard Castle and they're going to have to do this detour. It's ridiculous."

Mrs Holmes said she agreed the council needed to take action but said the closure would move the problem to other junctions and officials had not consulted locals over the plans.

She said: "It's just a little bit underhand and we have good reason to stop what's happening.

"What's blocking it off going to achieve? You're only moving our traffic to other roads."

Christian Dean says his family could have been killed

Christian Dean, who owns the home which was damaged in the crash earlier this year, echoed Mrs Holmes' concerns and said the council had not given locals enough notice.

He said residents supported the road remaining open - but with the installation of permanent traffic lights, with a camera to catch anyone driving through a red light.

"The highways department seem to be quite insular and don't like discussions, they seem to just make decisions and tell you what they have decided," he said.

"What we really want is communication with highways so everybody can discuss and come up with a viable solution."

The council said it had postponed plans to implement the road closure and was now organising a meeting with residents and businesses, but said it had "fully explored all feasible options for further road safety measures".

Mark Jackson, head of transport and contract services, said it had received a "number of local queries and concerns" since announcing the closure last week.

"We have listened to what people have had to say and we have decided the best thing to do is to pause the implementation and arrange a public meeting," he said.

Durham County Council says it had already "fully explored all feasible options" for safety measures

"Both ourselves and Durham Constabulary will be happy to outline the reasons for the proposal at the meeting, as well as the other options we've considered and the changes we've made to the junction in recent years."

He added it was "reassuring people" it had followed "all of the necessary processes" relating to the traffic order.