THE Market Cross in Barnard Castle - one of the town's most historic features - may be moved because it is in the wrong place for modern traffic.

The idea is one of four options put forward by Barnard Castle Vision team which is studying ways to improve the town.

When the cross - which is actually a small circular building - was constructed in 1747, horses, carts and the occasional stagecoach were the only forms of transport which had to get around the structure.

But junction has become increasingly busy, and modern coaches and articulated lorries often have difficulty manoeuvring the tight turn in the road and the building - variously used over the centuries as a court, police lockup, town hall and art studio - is regularly hit and damaged.

The first option is to take it down stone by stone and rebuild it 40yds away on a roadside cobbled area.

The second is to form a roundabout around it.

The third is to create a road island beside it, with two pedestrian crossings and a 20mph speed limit.

The fourth is to install traffic lights and have a one-way system past it. Townspeople will be asked to say which idea they like best and to suggest possible uses for the building, which is used only to store the town's festive lights.

Deputy mayor Coun John Yarker said: "It is ridiculous to even think of moving Market Cross. It has been the most famous symbol of our town for more than 250 years. It would be far better to keep huge lorries out and find an alternative route for them."

Maurice Abrahams, who has a bookshop near the cross, said: "It would cost millions to move the building, and there isn't enough room for it on the cobbles. It would be better to create a formal roundabout.

"Some drivers don't know who has priority at the junction at the moment.' Dr Anne Allen, who is co-ordinating opinions for the team, said: "We want to know what the public thinks, but then any proposal will need planning approval.

"The cost of moving the building would be high, but not all that enormous compared with some highway projects. But my own choice would be the fourth option using traffic lights."

The weather vane on the cross bears two bullet holes, the result of a shooting duel in 1804. A gamekeeper called Cruddas and volunteer soldier called Taylor argued in the Turk's Head about who was the best marksman. They went out and shot at the vane from 100yds - and both hit it.

For more than 100 years, the pillared veranda at the foot of the building was used by farmers' wives on market days to sell dairy products, mainly butter, which led to some folk calling it the Butter Cross.

The building was put up and given to the town by a wealthy merchant, Thomas Breaks. Charles Dickens looked over it when he stayed in the nearby King's Head Hotel in 1838 to gather material for his novel Nicholas Nickleby.