Every parking ticket issued in Brighton and Hove is illegal, a barrister has claimed.

Arguing at a parking ticket appeal hearing, Stephen Thompson said the wording on a fine his client received last year contravened the 1991 Road Traffic Act.

If the National Parking Adjudication Service (NPAS) adjudicator agrees, the ruling could set a legal precedent and render every parking ticket that has been issued since decriminalisation in 2001 invalid.

Mr Thompson is representing Jamie Robinson, who says he was ticketed last year when he went to get change for a pay-and-display machine.

Mr Thompson told the hearing on Wednesday the wording used on tickets was ambiguous and it was unclear who the notice was being addressed to and that it was obligatory that a fine be paid.

He argued that under the Road Traffic Act parking notices should say "the penalty charge must be paid" rather than "you are required to pay a penalty charge".

He said "you" could refer to the car's driver, owner or registered keeper and "required" did not mean the same as "must".

Mr Robinson's solicitor, Stephen Sutton, said after the hearing: "I think we came up with a very good argument but it is a very big decision for the adjudicator to make with lots of ramifications for councils in Brighton and all over the country.

"If we are right, and we are confident, then every parking ticket that has been issued by Brighton and Hove City Council and every one being issued on the streets right now is invalid. It could be good news for the citizens of Brighton and Hove."

Past cases where national parking adjudicators had made tickets invalid were also cited but the barrister for the council, Johanna Boyd, said they were not applicable in this case. She said the ticket used by the authority was modelled on Government guidelines.

Adjudicator Mark Hinchliffe said he needed time to consider the arguments and would make a final decision imminently.

Mr Robinson is being backed by Brighton parking fines campaigner Mike Gurney, 48, who was at the hearing.

Mr Gurney, who runs plumbing and heating company Glowzone, has been in a legal battle for five years over fines totalling more than £17,000 and has already paid £5,000 in fines and spent £27,000 in solicitors' fees fighting the council.

He said: "It is in the lap of the gods. It was good to hear the arguments I have believed in for so long heard in a legal form. I look forward to seeing the outcome. If the decision is not in our favour we will go for a judicial review at High Court.

"If it does, I have £17,000 worth of parking tickets to hand back to the council."

We contacted Brighton and Hove City Council but it did not respond with a comment.