RESIDENTS have criticised Durham County Council after they found out about plans to shut about 30 metres of their street for eight months - on Facebook.

Barnard Castle Town Councillor, Tom Deacon, posted a letter and plan that was emailed to the town council on Monday (December 15), notifying them of the King Street closure.

The letter explained that the closure would restrict vehicular access to the street southwards, from its junction with the A67 Galgate, for around eight months, from January 5, 2015, although it would still be accessible by two other points.

The county council agreed to close the road so that redevelopment work could take place at the former district council base, Teesdale House, which has planning permission for a new bar/restaurant, houses and flats.

The listed building was sold in 2009 and has stood mostly empty since but while residents are not opposed to the work, they say they would never have known about the closure if they had not seen it on social media.

Resident, Janine Barron, 48, said: “I have never been notified or received any letter, the first I heard was on Facebook - if I was not on Facebook I would not have known about it.”

Ms Barron said she also had concerns about how resident parking would be affected.

Town clerk, Michael King, said the first the town council had learnt of the closure was through the email yesterday and was opposed to the plans.

“The committee resolved that it did not think that the closure was warranted or the length of time was acceptable,” he said.

However, Dave Wafer, the county council’s strategic traffic manager, said the council had approved an application to close a 26 metre section of the street to allow safe access for the building work and to prevent works traffic having access to the site from the “much busier” A67.

He also said residents who have difficulty parking during the work would be able to get a free parking permit for Morrison’s by emailing parkingservices@durham.gov.uk

“As part of the application process, we make it clear that organisations requesting road closures keep local residents fully informed and we will ensure that this happens as planned, well before the work starts in 2015,” he said.

“Due to the small size of the closure, the fact that pedestrian access will not be affected and that the street will still be accessible by cars from two other points, we expect disruption as a result of the road closure to be minimal.”