Plunging temperatures and sky-high parking charges have left traders bemoaning the “worst Easter ever”.

Footfall was up to a tenth lower than previous years with many shops deciding not to open at all.

Seafront business appeared to be hit the hardest with traders lamenting a “six month winter”.

Adam Chinnery, of the Seafront Traders’ Association, said: “The local traders are calling it the worst Easter weekend.

The parking charges haven’t helped – if the weather was a bit better then people might pay £15 to come down and park on the seafront for eight hours.”

Unseasonably cold temperatures saw the mercury dip to 3C yesterday.

However, 20mph north-easterly gusts would have made it feel more like -1C for shoppers.

The effect on business in George Street, Hove, was clear to see according to traders’ spokesman, Alan Moon.

He said: “If the weather is inclement then George Street is dead.

“A number of shopkeepers didn’t bother opening yesterday or over the weekend – it was just too cold.”

Mr Moon, who ran the Cocoon knitting shop in George Street closed for good yesterday blaming increasing business rates and the dragged-out recession.

The same was reported by independent traders in the North Laine area, with one-off seasonal events saving an otherwise disastrous bank holiday-weekend.

David Sewell, chair of the North Laine Traders Association, said: “It’s freezing cold so it’s been really quiet.

“Luckily we’ve had quite a few activities to do like the Food Festival and the Easter Egg hunt, which have been really helpful.

“Of course the high parking prices don’t help either.”

Despite the country changing the clocks to British Summer Time over the weekend, there is no sign of sunshine to ease traders’ woes.

Mr Chinnery, who runs Brighton Watersports, added: “It’s so cold that I’m not allowing anyone to go out apart from the club members. We’ve had a six month winter.”

However the winner in the all the cold weather appeared to be Churchill Square.

Phillip Costa, manager of Cafe Giardino, estimated that they had done some 500 covers across the long weekend.

He added: “Nobody wants to be outside when it’s cold so they all seem to have come in here.”

The forecast for the rest of the week is bright and dry with daytime temperatures ranging between 3c and 8c.