COUNCIL officers have stepped up their campaign to crackdown on illegal lorry parking in one Yorkshire Dales town.

Drivers have been using Thirsk Industrial Park to park their wagons overnight - causing damage to the roads and disturbing local residents.

We are determined to crackdown on this problem

Geoff Herbert - Hambleton District Council

In the last 12 months vehicles belonging to over fifty different companies have been seen parking there overnight.

Now in a bid to resolve the problem council officers are undertaking random late night checks on the estate - and they are calling on resident businesses to help them.

"We have been advised that the best way to tackle this problem is to call the police every time an illegally parked lorry is spotted on the estate," said Economic Development Manager, Geoff Herbert.

"Each incident then gets a log number and if the same driver or company becomes a repeat visitor action can be taken.

"We are determined to crackdown on this problem - damage is being done to the roads, businesses are experiencing access problems and local people noise problems. There are plenty of places to leave lorries overnight without having to disturb Thirsk."

Businesses located on the industrial park which experiences problems should call the Police at the time of the incident on 0845 60 60 247 as well as the council's Economic Development team on 01609 767050.