A VILLAGE tourist attraction which was catapulted to national attention when an MP mistakenly heralded it during a speech is seeking permission to help deal with a surge in visitors.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority is set to consider changes at the Ingleton Waterfalls Trail after being told moving the tickets kiosk in the car park would end queues of cars through the village.

The 7km trail and waterfalls in North Yorkshire had already been popular when in 2014 Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman hailed them as she opened at a fair, in a County Durham village also called Ingleton, some 70 miles from the attraction.

The Ingleton Scenery Company proposal is to create a new kiosk at the top of the car park, enabling visitors to park their cars before paying for entry to the attraction.

A spokesman said: “The proposed kiosk will also improve the working conditions of the staff that sells tickets.

"Presently, they have to walk from the kiosk to the car of each customer.

"The majority of staff are at or close to retirement age. On a busy day this short walk to and from the kiosk can add up to miles.

“Another recent development has made the current kiosk outdated.

"The number of visitors paying by card has made the process of purchasing tickets at the kiosk slower - not simply because the transactions take longer to be processed, but also that the card machine cannot be used outside in bad weather.

"This has meant visitors have to leave their cars in order to pay, which is compounding the issue of cars queueing into the village.”