A traffic warden was sacked after telling drivers he would help cancel their parking ticket – but only if they posed for a picture.

Steven Jarvis promised hundreds of motorists in Brighton and Hove he would back their appeal if he could photograph them standing next to their car.

But in fact he was keeping the images for his private collection.

During more than two-and-a-half years working for Brighton and Hove City Council contractor NSL, Mr Jarvis compiled more than 200 pictures of parking offenders.

He told The Argus he was planning to publish them all in a special book.

He said: “The pictures were part of my book project. “I told the drivers that I could use an explanation written in my pocketbook to help them in their appeal – that’s why so many of them agreed to pose for a picture.

"But I didn’t give them any concrete assurances."

Mr Jarvis claimed bosses at parking firm NSL knew he was taking the photos for more than a year before they fired him.

He said: “They pulled me upstairs and told me they weren’t comfortable with me taking the pictures. But I just carried on using my own camera.

“I think the pictures are fantastic – they’re really funny. They’d make a great book.”

The Argus has seen many of the pictures taken by Mr Jarvis, most of which show relieved-looking drivers of all ages posing with their parking ticket.

A spokeswoman for NSL, which runs all parking enforcement services in Brighton and Hove, said Mr Jarvis had been sacked partly for taking the pictures but also for “other reasons”.

She said: “This was an isolated case. We are still investigating the incident but it is clear Mr Jarvis wasn’t meeting the standards we expect from a traffic enforcement officer.

“Appeals have to meet special criteria and the pictures would have had no effect.”

The spokeswoman claimed Mr Jarvis’s idea of publishing the pictures in a book was a “non-starter”.

She said: “These photographs were taken in work time and remain the property of NSL.”