Mechanics in Brighton and Hove are among the most expensive in the country, according to new research.

The cost of having your car fixed at one of the city's franchise dealers is on average the same price as a flight to Milan, a haircut at a top salon or a week's rent.

In a study of 2,987 franchises across the UK, Brighton and Hove was the fourth most expensive places for repairs, with mechanics charging an average of £82.76 per hour excluding the cost of parts.

London comes top, with motorists being charged an average of £98.49 an hour at a specialist garage.

The capital is followed by Reading with an average of £89.45 and Cardiff with £83.95.

Automotive warranty specialist Warranty Direct, which carried out the research, said if prices continued to rise drivers could be paying more than £211 an hour by 2008.

The cost of one hour's labour has risen an average of four per cent over the last year but the most expensive mechanics hiked their prices by ten per cent. In the South, prices rose an average of eight per cent.

The most expensive hourly rate at a South Coast dealer in 2004 was £141 an hour. Independent garages' charges are less damaging on the wallet at an average of £47 an hour.

A spokeswoman for Warranty Direct said: "Franchise dealers to tend to be much more expensive than independent garages. They would claim they charge more because they will have a very nice, plush environment, give you tea and coffee and have courtesy cars more easily available."

Kingsley Harte, sales manager at Frosts Jaguar in Old Shoreham Road, Hove, where an hour's labour costs £79.75, said: "We are more expensive than independent garages but we are fully authorised and have the proper equipment and genuine parts.

"I suppose you could say we are the professionals."

Darren Morris, manager of independent garage Autofit in Manor Hall Road, Brighton, charges £40 an hour and agreed Brighton and Hove's popularity as a fashionable place to live made prices soar.

He said: "It is related to the cost of living and the price of properties down here. People have to pay more rent and houses are more expensive. If your overheads are higher you are going to charge more."

A spokesman for the AA Motoring Trust said: "It is a competitive industry and what is most important is making sure people are aware they will be paying more if they go to a franchise dealer."