Councillors are acting to sort out a two-year legal hitch which led police to give up handing out parking tickets in Burgess Hill.

The chaos began in May 2000, when a resident won an appeal against a fine for parking on a yellow line in Church Road.

The case hinged on a technicality which, the court ruled, made the street's parking regulations unenforceable.

Now West Sussex County Council is pushing through a new set of restrictions.

The move follows mounting complaints from the public and problems over cars obstructing bus routes and disabled drivers being unable to find on-street spaces.

Councillor Tex Pemberton has given permission for all the existing traffic regulations in Burgess Hill to be scrapped and replaced with a brand new order which will allow the police to start handing out tickets again.

The problem began when the resident went to Lewes Crown Court to challenge a parking fine.

The driver had been prosecuted under a traffic order for Church Road which was approved in 1980.

But a clause in the parking regulations for the road stated that the restrictions would not apply if they conflicted with any earlier order.

The resident discovered that a 1978 order for Church Road which allowed limited parking had not been revoked when parking changes were introduced two years later.

It meant police were powerless to enforce the waiting restrictions in Church Road. County Hall discovered that the same went for several other roads too.

A report published today said: "As it would not be obvious to the public which of the waiting restrictions in Burgess Hill were legal and which were not, the police decided not to carry out enforcement of any of the restrictions in the town, only intervening when parked vehicles are obstructing traffic or causing a clear hazard."

Coun Pemberton's experts have told him that the new order is "accurate and free from legal ambiguities".

The new traffic regulations do not have to be advertised for public comment because there are no new restrictions being imposed.

That means they can come into force after February 5.