THESE little white bollards could be the shortest-lived solutions to Brighton and Hove’s traffic problems.

Over-eager council contractors put them up last month, hoping to please Brighton and Hove City Council with their initiative tackling the problem of kerbside parking by delivery lorries which has been damaging the pavement.

However the bollards in Western Road, Brighton, caused more traffic problems than they solved and the work by the contractors, who the local authority is not naming, had not received council approval and so were removed days later.

Officers said the swift U-turn will not cost taxpayers a penny.

It is not the first time contractors have left council bosses pulling their hair out.

In July 2015, works on the £1.5 million Brighton Station Gateway project was delayed because contractors had installed paving slabs which were the wrong colour and had to be dug up again.

In October in the same year residents in Ditchling Rise, Brighton, endured the highways version of the hokey-cokey after their road was dug up and resurfaced three times in a matter of months.

The £1 million redevelopment of the Seven Dials roundabout in 2013 has also required repair works for crumbling kerbstones.

Luke Martin, lettings negotiator with Good Deal Agency in Western Road, said: “The bollards went up and then they just came down again about a week later.

“They just made the problem worse. Delivery lorries were just parking in the road instead rather than on the pavement.

“It probably is better if they just leave it as it is.”

A council spokeswoman said: “Quite simply, this was a misunderstanding by the contractor. The pavements are being damaged after being continually overrun by vehicles and the council is looking at ways to prevent this. Unfortunately our contractor jumped the gun by putting in the posts, which were not approved by the council and are unlikely to be used as a solution to the problem.

“We will not be charged for this work and the posts will be removed free of charge.

“They will not be replaced for the foreseeable future and there are no plans to put them in elsewhere.”