Sunderland council is opening up bus lanes to taxis, lorries and cyclists from Monday as part of a trial system.

But Councillor Lee Martin says the scheme should be extended to car-sharing on the A690 Durham Road.

If approved, the bus lanes on the road would be opened up to motorists who share their cars with others.

CCTV could enforce usage

Mr Martin said: "There are a lot of people that use the A690 in and out of work and it tends to be drivers on their own.

"Car-sharing has been trialled by councils such as Leeds and they use cameras to check up on drivers."

But the AA has expressed doubt about enforcing the use of such lanes.

'Car sharing too complicated'

Spokeswoman Becky Rees said: "All these systems sound very good in principle, but 85% of cars in the rush hour have only one person in them.

"Most of our lives don't allow us to car share; the circumstances are too complicated."

Mr Martin, however, thinks the scheme can be successfully enforced.

He said: "If there is only one person in a vehicle using a car-share lane, they can be caught on camera and issued with a fixed penalty."