Drivers in Brighton and Hove are getting more parking tickets than those in other cities

Tory councillor Ted Kemble told Brighton and Hove City Council the rate of ticketing was four times that of Birmingham, three times that of Southampton and almost twice the number issued in Manchester.

Coun Kemble, Tory environment spokesman, said: "The 161,000 penalty charge notices issued in 2002/3 equates to more than two tickets per car-owning household.

He asked why city motorists were being penalised in comparison with those elsewhere.

Environment councillor Gill Mitchell said this was the third anniversary of the council taking over parking enforcement from the police.

Of the 161,000 tickets, more than 6,000 were for parking at bus stops or in bays for disabled people.

She added: "A high proportion of the tickets are issued to drivers parking on double-yellow lines.

"Brighton and Hove has one of the lowest rates of formal appeals per penalty charge outside London.

"Figures only serve to emphasise the scale of the problem in Brighton and Hove and the firm but fair approach we have taken in tackling it."