Hotel owners say they have lost business after council officials put up bollards blocking an unofficial car park.

For a number of years, guests at the Clearview Hotel in Claremont Road, Seaford, have parked on an area of grass beside the building.

Michaela Hatt and Stephen Marchant said they had received no complaints about the parking since they took over the hotel in February last year.

However, this summer East Sussex County Council sealed off the area with bollards.

Michaela said she had not been warned and the hotel had since lost customers.

She said: "We advertised that we had parking spaces and now have to tell people we don't.

"The council said a van had gone on to the grass into the mud and it was dangerous for pedestrians but there is no need for anyone to walk on it.

"There is very little on-street parking and now we are losing customers.

"I had two double rooms booked for four nights but they decided not to stay because they did not want to leave their cars in the road.

"We also have a restaurant open to non-residents and a bar but people cannot park for these either.

"Business has been slow this summer anyway because of foot-and-mouth and this has made it even worse."

A spokeswoman for East Sussex County Council said: "The bollards have been there about three months because the verge was being used as a car park. It had become a sea of mud.

"The town council and local residents did not like it.

"The verge belongs to the highway authority. It is not on private land and the authority can do what it wants, particularly if it becomes dangerous.

"Letters were sent out but presumably they were sent to the people who owned the hotel before. We were not aware there was a new person in charge so that is why they were not spoken to directly."

She said nobody from the hotel had spoken to the council workers when they installed the bollards and the verge had been reseeded and looked better.