Dozens of cyclists staged a protest to mark the first day of a bicycle ban on trains.

Southern trains is turning away bikes to create more space on its overcrowded rush-hour trains between London and Brighton.

Cyclists handed out leaflets at Brighton station yesterday criticising the train operator for being unreasonable.

Eloise Lindenberg, 30, of The Drive, Hove, said: "I have a real problem with this heavy-handed approach to cycle users.

"It seems we are an easy target versus people with prams or large musical instruments or other outsize baggage.

"The move is completely discordant with both local and national Government policy which is trying to increase cycling."

Martin Digon, 26, of Palmeira Square, Hove, said he would now have to drive to work near Gatwick.

Ivan Griffiths, 39, founder of the Cycle Train Commuters Group, said: "Commuting without a bike puts an extra hour on my day.

"I want to be able to read my kids a bedtime story at the end of the day and I literally cannot do that unless I use my bike."

A spokesman for Southern, which operates from the Sussex coast to London Victoria, said: "It is not a new ban.

"We are simply enforcing a policy which has been in place for many years but was lightly enforced in the past.

"The new trains offer a limited amount of space for bicycles during the peak periods."

Visit the Cycle Train Commuters Group at www.ctcg.org.uk and Southern at www.southernrailway.com