Residents thought their cars had been stolen after workmen towed them away while they carried out resurfacing work.

Notices telling residents not to park in Brading Street, off Elm Grove, in Brighton, appeared on Monday.

Then at 8am yesterday, contractors armed with a recovery vehicle started towing away vehicles in the way of their work.

Six cars were towed away. Residents who had missed the notices the previous evening awoke to find their cars missing.

Kate Jannaway, 28, who works at Bennetts Cafe Bar in Egremont Place, Brighton, said: "We were given hardly any notice about the resurfacing.

"Several residents left their cars outside their homes overnight and thought their cars had been stolen."

Ms Jannaway said she was looking after her boss's Mercedes Benz at the time and was lucky it too was not removed.

She added: "It is not as if this road needs doing. When I drive to work along Queen's Park Road there are far more potholes.

"I am amazed Brighton and Hove City Council can suddenly come along one afternoon without warning, put up a couple of notices saying No Parking because the road is to be resurfaced, then hours later start towing away cars.

"The notices were put up in such a rush that the contractors did not even have time to fill in the contact number."

A spokeswoman for the council said: "We are only required to give a day's notice.

"We put the notices up the day before. The cars are taken to the nearest legal parking space when they need to be removed for roadworks."

She said the work in Brading Road was part of an ongoing resurfacing programme.