A businessman has blamed a town hall's Parking regime for the closure of his shop.

David Ford, managing director of the Tranquility Aquatic and Reptile Centre in George Street, Brighton, said trade had dropped off by 70 per cent in recent years.

He said he had been driven out by parking attendants enforcing the council's tough stance on illegal parking to the letter and making it impossible for people to pop into his shop for just a few minutes.

He is moving to new premises in Warren Road, Woodingdean, which has its own parking bays.

Mr Ford said: "We have lots of customers who have got tickets while they are shopping and they have stopped using us. The council is trying to push cars out of Brighton but they are forgetting the people who run businesses rely on drivers for trade. Parking has always been an issue but more recently it has become impossible in Kemp Town."

He said the council could help by creating more spaces where shoppers could park free-of-charge for up to 20 minutes.

He said: "Customers don't like coming to Brighton anymore. I live near Worthing and ten or 15 years ago people would have travelled from Worthing to go shopping in Brighton. Now they're heading in the opposite direction."

James Charter, of the Kemp Town Village Business Association, said he could sympathise with Mr Ford's plight. He said any spaces near his shop, Egg and Spoon in St George's Road, were usually taken by staff, visitors or construction workers from the nearby Royal Sussex County Hospital.

New pay-and-display meters installed along the western end of Marine Parade in the spring had made parking in Kemp Town worse as they were so expensive people were avoiding using them. Mr Charter said: "People say they are having trouble getting out and about in Kemp Town so they end up going into the centre of town instead to use the car parks.

"There has been a drop in trade which has been made worse since the No. 7 bus was diverted away from St George's Road."

Gill Mitchell, chairman of the city council's environment committee, said parking rules were the only way to keep traffic moving, which allowed businesses to move goods and people.

She said: "We should not underestimate the contribution illegal and dangerous parking makes to traffic congestion. Good parking enforcement means our roads can remain unobstructed traffic flow maintained. With car ownership set to double by 2010, one of the biggest challenges all of us have to face over the coming years is reducing the number of cars coming into the city centre."

She said better bus services and a park-and-ride scheme would cut traffic.

Friday, May 20 2005