Parking attendants targeted unsuspecting motorists on Bank Holiday Monday doling out nearly 500 fines and prompting a furious backlash.

Many of the 477 tickets were slapped on the windscreens of visitors to Brighton who believed parking bays were free on holidays, like in other parts of the country.

Brighton and Hove City Council could raise up to £30,000 from £60 penalty fees on May 7.

Visitor Rachel Mundy, 38, said she was disgusted that she got a fine on a public holiday and would think twice about travelling to Brighton and Hove from her Oxford home for another mini-break.

She said she got the fine after parking her Renault Laguna in Somerhill Road, Hove.

She said: "I paid for my parking on Saturday and assumed, as is the case in most other areas of the country, that bank holiday would be free.

"I couldn't believe it when I got back to the car and saw the sticker on my windscreen - it made my blood boil.

"I've heard that parking in Brighton is a joke but this takes the biscuit.

"It's just pure greed on the part of the council. There was another guy down the street who also got a ticket and he was livid.

"Like me he'd travelled to Brighton from outside the area for the bank holiday and was caught out. It's left a really bitter taste in my mouth."

Steve Percy of the People's Parking Protest said: "One of my neighbours got a ticket on Boxing Day - nothing is exempt anymore.

"Everyone feels that fines on bank holidays are out of order. It is when people visit the city and they just should be free, it is as simple as that.

"The council will say its so residents' spaces are not full of tourists but I think its just about them tricking money out of them.

"What is so out of order is that the rules are different in each town so you never know when you are supposed to pay and when you are not.

"It should be the same everywhere but instead it even changes in different parts of the city.

"It is so confusing - even people who live here fall foul of the system never mind visitors."

A spokeswoman from Brighton and Hove City Council said: "Free parking may be something that other places with fewer visitors or more space are able to offer but in Brighton and Hove free bank holiday parking would cause chaos.

"If parking were free it would actively encourage the thousands of visitors to bring their cars. The streets would be utterly clogged with traffic. It's busy enough now but if parking were free on bank holidays it would be gridlock."

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