Councillors have agreed to introduce parking restrictions in the Preston Park area of Brighton.

In 2007 residents in the area voted to be excluded from the proposed Zone A restrictions.

Since then the inclusion of Tivoli Crescent into a resident parking scheme has caused extra parking pressure on surrounding roads and in November it was agreed to consult with residents again.

Following a public consultation those residents for and against were split 50/50.

Have your say - do you think the scheme is a good idea?

Some people claimed there were parking problems caused by non-residents parking in the streets while others claimed the scheme was a tax on homeowners.

But at a meeting of Brighton and Hove City Council's transport committee last night councillors agreed to introduce residents’ parking on weekdays from 9am to 8pm with free parking remaining at the weekend.

The scheme would also include adding double yellow lines on Dyke Road.

Speaking at the meeting, several councillors said the decision to move forward with the scheme had taken future parking pressures into account.

Gill Mitchell, Labour’s transport spokeswoman, said: “On balance we will be supporting these recommendations. We think the proposed scheme is representative of the views received from residents in terms of weekend parking.”

Coun Davey added: “Parking is always difficult and it’s impossible to please everyone. There’s always going to be an impact when a scheme like this goes in.”

Councillors also requested if tariffs at Preston station could be looked at as another way of dealing with parking problems.

Resident Helen Jones welcomed the decision and said she had been pressing the council “for years” for action.

She said: “They’ve made a great decision.”

Before the meeting she said it was only a matter of time “before someone is killed” if no changes were made.

She added: “I literally feel that every time I pull out of my drive way onto Dyke Road that I am taking a risk with my life and that of my two little boys – it is a really horrible feeling.

“And I know that all my neighbours feel exactly the same.”

Fellow resident James May has welcomed the council’s intervention. He said: “This, I believe, will be a lasting solution once it is implemented.”

The inclusion of Tivoli Crescent North into an existing parking zone scheme is itself the subject of a legal challenge. 

Lawyers say the council's decision to put that road, as well as Maldon Road, Matlock Road and Tivoli Road, into the Preston Park Station zone were undemocratic as a majority of residents opposed the move.