Teesside Shopping Park is a large out of town shopping park in the North East of England in Cleveland. It is very easy to get to, situated where the A19 crosses the A66.

Teesside Park can roughly be broken down into 4 areas. As you enter the park on the left is an area of individual buildings accomdating chain restaurants, including Pizza Express, Chiquitos, Frankie & Bennys and TGI Fridays.

Moving on there is a central area of shops including a large Morrisons, Currys, Staples, Toys R Us and Pets at home. This area seems quite seperate from any of the other areas, as you have to park at the individual shops rather than in a central car park, and pedestrian access is limited.

To the North of the site is the entertainment crescent, with a large 18 screen cinema, casino, bowling alley, Pizza Hut and Burger King. There is also a nightclub which is arguably open, and in a bit of a state. This area is very popular with teenagers, as they can be dropped off, grab a bit and a movie with friends, in an environment parents know is security monitored at all times.

The final area is the most popular. A large 'U' of shops with all the high street favourites such as Next and Boots, as well as furniture shops, travel agents, sports shops and speciality shops such as Hobbycraft. The shopping area is always very busy, and is clearly popular, as shops are big names, there are no discount book stores or pound shops here.

All the areas have masses of parking, although the shops 'U' can fill up at peak times such as sales and weekends. Teesside Park is a very popular destination, and convenient for people to pop for a meal or pick up a present on the way home from work after town centre shops have shut.

To me the main drawback of Teesside Park is in the approach. The roads have been poorly connected, with huge bumps causing the car to take off if going over 20 miles an hour. In addition there is a gym on the left hand side as you approach. It has closed down several years ago now, but the site has not been bought by anyone else. Planning permission was refused for a white goods shop on the site. The gym is in terrible condition, boarded up, plants growing out the windows, and generally vandalised. A few times a year travellers decide to live in the car park until they eventually get moved on, which also increases break ins to cars parked in the area and litter, further pulling down the entry to Teesside Park. It really staggers me that the gym hasn't been pulled down or that no one wants to buy the site, but sadly it still stands there.

I would recommend Teesside Park to people shopping in the area, but to me its value is more as an entertainment destination to grab some cheap food and a pizza before a film, with a side of shopping, as there are no individual or boutique style shops to tempt me.