Traders plan to bring Brighton and Hove to a standstill in protest at the city's tough Parking regulations.

Campaigners are threatening to cause chaos by driving convoys totalling 200 vehicles into the city centre along different routes on Wednesday, June 5.

The go-slow will be similar to the demonstrations staged on motorways and major roads during the fuel protests two years ago.

The protest is planned for the day when new £3 parking charges for traders who need to park on yellow lines and restricted parking areas come into force.

A meeting to finalise the details of the protest is being held at the Brunswick pub in Holland Road, Hove, tomorrow at 7pm.

Traders, many of whom have had tickets while working in Brighton and Hove, said they had suffered enough after Brighton and Hove City Council took over responsibility for parking last July.

They said the council had failed to come up with a satisfactory scheme to allow traders to park in restricted areas.

Two organisations are behind the protest: The Traders against Parking Persecution (TAP) and the People's Parking Protest.

TAP has already held meetings attended by 50 traders who demanded direct action to draw attention to the problems they face.

Brian McArthur, spokes-man for TAP, who runs his own building business, said: "We are hoping 200 vehicles will take part in the protest. We are all very fed up. We hope this protest will get the councillors and officials out of their offices to talk to us about our concerns.

"The introduction of £3 charges for the previously free waivers will add to our costs which we will have to pass on to customers.

"Each waiver will cost £3 for each location each day. A plumber making eight visits a day will have to pay out £24 a day.

"A builder working six days a week in central Brighton will have to pay out more than £850 a year.

"We feel this is just another money-making scheme for the council which we estimate could net them a minimum of £150,000 a year."

A spokeswoman for the city council said: "We would rather the traders came and talked to us before bringing the city to a halt with a protest.

"Nobody likes to pay for something that was previously free but shoppers have to pay for parking and commuters have to pay.

"Charges for waivers are made in other cities. The charge in the London borough of Wandsworth is £22.50 a day."