Call for road closures to allow Good Friday procession to follow tradition

Council chiefs are being called on to reinstate one of the borough's oldest traditions by closing key roads for the annual Procession of Witness by local church groups.

- by Tom Patterson

One of the marching bands at a previous Good Friday Procession of Witness in South Shields.

Cllr Eileen Leask wants council bosses to reinstate road closures which allow the annual Good Friday parade to march down Westoe Road and Fowler Street into the Market Place.

Last year's event saw local churches required to assemble in the car park at the rear of the Town Hall and then march down Anderson Street into the Market Place via King Street.

After the open air service in the Market Place, they were unable to march back to their respective churches.

Previous events saw congregations marching from their respective places of worship into the Market Place before marching back for a service in their own churches.

Cllr Leask, who represents the Horsley Hill ward on South Tyneside Council, said: "The Procession of Witness by local churches has taken place on Good Friday in South Shields for over 135 years with congregations marching from their respective places of worship into the Market Place before marching back for a service in their own churches.

"One route has always been down Westoe Road, Fowler Street and then into the Market Place.