Extra parking spaces possible

The People's Parking Protest, set up by residents and vehicle-owners in central Brighton, met officials from Brighton and Hove City Council who are considering ways of providing additional parking bays.

Drivers in the Seven Dials area of Brighton demanded action after months of traffic misery since new regulations came into force.

Members of the protest group, formed last summer after the council took over responsibility for enforcing parking regulations, spent a day touring streets close to Brighton station.

Protest chairman Steve Percy, who runs System Electronics near Seven Dials, was one of the businesses affected by the city's tough new parking regime, responsible for 500 tickets a day.

He said: "It has been a very fruitful experience going round with Ben Stride, the senior traffic engineer for central Brighton. We identified several places where more bays can be created.

"One area is Church Street, Brighton, which has double-yellow lines on both sides because it used to be a through road.

"More parking bays can be put in this street and it would help solve the problem of parents who have been getting tickets while picking up their children from nearby St Paul's School.

"We have also identified more space in Howard Place near the station where areas for landscaping with flowers have not materialised and can be used for bays.

"Then there is Guildford Road, just up from the station, which is no longer used by buses and does not need double-yellow lines and single-yellow lines on both sides.

"If the council is serious about providing more parking spaces, rather than getting money from people who park for five minutes over their time, then they should start work on providing the extra places we have found."

More than extra 60 parking bays were identified during the day.

A council spokeswoman said: "We are looking at the suggestions put forward. Some sites for extra bays are possible, others are not."