RESIDENTS living near a new £14.4m road have described the project as "crazy" after council chiefs were criticised in an independent report.

A £20,000 inquiry led by a team of construction consultants concluded Darlington Borough Council officials presided over a host of management errors during the Eastern Transport Corridor Project - which led to a £1.9m overspend.

This week, a second member of Darlington Council's Labour cabinet, Coun Nick Wallis, came under attack for his role in the affair.

The current Labour portfolio holder for transport, Coun David Lyonette, has been lambasted by opposition councillors.

Liberal Democrat members now have their sights set on his predecessor - Coun Wallis - who was in charge of transport until he was moved to health and leisure in August.

As part of the inquiry, EC Harris were asked to look into complaints from residents unhappy that a section of the road was not built at ground level - as originally agreed - but on top of a 2m-high embankment.

Construction work continued, despite complaints, because the council's planners considered the change to be "minor".

But the consultants' report advises the council that it may be asked to justify its decision in future.

"We understand that the council has received complaints over the alteration of the scheme road levels," the report states. "We recommend that the council identifies and collates all the information available in respect of decisions made, since the council may need all the records to demonstrate what actions it took throughout the design process and when those actions were taken."

The new road links the A66 to Haughton Road in Darlington. The original plans for the route showed the road at ground level, but a section next to Red Hall estate is on a raised embankment.

Cyril Johnston, who lives at Goodison Way, said the view from neighbouring houses had been spoiled, and passing drivers would now be able to see into people's bedroom windows.

"The council has told me this road will be no higher than 5ft - but at two points it is at least 10ft high," he said. "The council decided to bash on with the project regardless of how it would affect local residents. It is just crazy.

"If I had built a garden wall a foot higher than the planning permission allowed, I would be told to tear it down.

"The road is built now - and it doesn't look like we can do anything about it."

The council's chief executive, Ada Burns, said the decision to continue work on the road after residents complained "was appropriate".

She added: "Officers are now working closely with the residents affected and working through how we manage the implications with them."

Cliff Brown, the director now in charge of the road project, added: "We have had public meetings with the residents to make sure any issues were aired and taken into account in terms of landscaping, and screening works."

Coun Martin Swainston, leader of the Lib Dem group on the council, said Coun Wallis had outlined his vision for the scheme on his personal website.

"It's very clear that Coun Wallis was responsible for this project - he says as much on his own blog," said Coun Swainston. "I am wondering if these problems were already known and if that was why he was moved from this brief. It was a position he had held for several years.

"Maybe the cabinet knew about the overspend early on and that is why there was this re-jigging."

In a diary entry on Coun Wallis's site, he is pictured in the cab of a JCB when work began on the site in February last year.

He writes: "Pictures of councillors in diggers at the start of building projects are the cliched staples of the local press. Still, I have to confess I felt a real buzz when I got behind the wheel of this monster. Give me a chequered shirt and a utility belt and I am Bob the Builder."

On his reappointment as cabinet member for transport in May, he wrote: "I have to say I'm delighted - the coming 12 months will see several key projects come to fruition, notably the Eastern Transport Corridor.

"Overseeing the completion date and budget will be a key task. All in all it should be an exciting year."

He was moved from the post three months later, but Coun Wallis said last night that the switch was not related to the overspend.

"The idea that I was moved on from the post because of the problems with the Eastern Transport Corridor is baloney," he said. "This is gutter politics from the Lib Dems."