A POPULAR car boot sale has been scrapped, after the organisers slammed a school for raising the rent to use its grounds.

Carden School Car Boot had been using the grounds at Carden Primary School in Hollingbury for over ten years, but organisers said rent had become to expensive.

Announcing on Facebook Carden School Car Boot organisers said: “Let’s put the record straight. The school increased the rent again for this year. It has now gone up to £492 per week...

“We were having a shortfall every week. We tried to negotiate with the school but they were not willing to compromise at all so we had to close. If they was willing to drop the rent a little bit we could have continued.”

Owner Mark Bartholomew said he had been subject to a score of rent increases over the past few years.

He said in 2013 the rent increased by £40 to £480, before rising again to £492 last September. He said with increasing advertising and insurance costs, the rent had become unbearable.

Speaking to The Argus he said: “A £12 a week increase doesn’t sound very much, but when you are fighting other boot sales in the area and everybody is charging £10 per pitch, you cant suddenly say we are going to charge £12 because we wont open the gates.

“The way I look at the moment it now they are going to get 100 percent of nothing, whereas if we had come to an agreement it could have been different.”

The car boot sale, which normally ran from April to October had been had been running at the school in County Oak Avenue for over ten years years.

Residents told of their dismay at it being shut on the social media site. One commented: “What a shame, I have sold at and attended the Sunday morning car boots for over 10 years.

“How narrow minded of the school to lose their weekly income from this.”

Another commented: “It makes absolutely no sense.

“I mean no one else was using it and even half of that amount a week going to the school is a massive bonus to them.

“It’s nuts. I’m hoping they might change their minds.

“My two sons wait all year for you to open in April.”

School bosses defended the rent rise saying the school was strapped for cash and that they could not be responsible for subsidising Mr Bartholomew’s business.

A spokeswoman for Carden Primary School said: “We’re really disappointed that the car boot sale organiser has decided to stop his weekly sales on our premises.

“The financial situation facing our school is the worst it has ever been. Overheads are rising in all areas at a time of severely diminished funding from the government.

“We even organised a team of parents and teachers to run the Brighton Half Marathon to raise much needed funds for our school.

“Hosting the car boot sale costs us a considerable amount in terms of our overheads. These overheads have risen over the years.

“While we understand the value our local community attaches to these events, they are simply no longer viable for us unless we charge a rate that pays our way and benefits the school.

“Rent increases over the past 5 years have been very small and well below inflationary rates.

“We are disappointed that he appears to be expecting a cash-strapped school paid for by taxpayers money to subsidise his private business.

“We wish him luck in finding a new local venue. Should he not find this achievable and wishes to reconsider his position regarding the payment we require we would of course be delighted to hear from him.”

It comes after last may headteacher Helen Longton-Howarth was a signatory of a letter to Brighton and Hove MPs raising awareness about school funding issues.