The grass always seems to be greener on the other side of Longridge Avenue.

First, residents were made to pay more council tax than their counterparts opposite.

Now motorists can park on the east side of the road and happily sit there all day, sometimes on double-yellow lines.

On the western side, the chances are they would get a ticket.

The road in Saltdean sits on the border between the city of Brighton and Hove and East Sussex - divided by an invisible line.

The west side of the street is patrolled by city parking attendants and the east by Sussex Police traffic wardens.

City attendants are regularly seen on the west side but residents say they rarely see a warden on the east side of the road.

Sally Barker, from Saltdean, said: "Its crazy. All the people round here know about it and try to park on the east side where they can stay as long as they like."

Ashvin Desai runs a newsagents on the west side but parks on the east. He said: "I've never seen a warden on the east side."

Mr Desai did get a £30 ticket once when he parked on the east side but it came from a city attendant who crossed the road.

Some shoppers complained cars were able to park legally for weeks on the east side while drivers can only park for an hour yards away on the west.

Kevin Reid, a hairdresser who runs Jazz Barbers on the east side, said: "Some of my customers are elderly and have to park close to my shop.

"There is usually nowhere to park my side so they are restricted to the one hour on the other side."

The Argus reported one of the first disparities two years ago, when residents living on the west side had to pay more council tax to Brighton and Hove Council than people on the east who paid to Lewes District Council, East Sussex County Council and Telscombe Town Council.

It even meant their bins were collected at different times despite being only metres apart.

The parking problems are made worse by an imbalance of numbers.

The city employs dozens of parking attendants but there are only four traffic wardens for the whole of the Lewes district.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: "Our four traffic wardens cover the entire district and are deployed as effectively as possible given the varying degrees of need in this large area.

"Now the issue in Longridge Avenue has been raised, we will look into the matter further."