A newsagent has claimed his business suffered after double-yellow lines were painted by mistake outside his shop.

Brian Mason, whose shop in The Highway, Moulsecoomb, Brighton, is also a post office and an off-licence, noticed a drop in trade after the lines appeared two weeks ago.

He complained to The Argus because he was angry with Brighton and Hove City Council for painting the lines without any prior warning to traders in the parade of shops.

But when our reporter contacted the city council, a spokesman came back and admitted there had been a mistake.

A gas company had inadvertently reinstated old double-yellow lines when it carried out work.

The lines had been blacked out two years ago when new limited parking bays were introduced.

The mistake had already been spotted by traffic technicians and the double-yellow lines are to be removed next week.

A city council spokesman said: "We are sorry for the confusion."