Residents who live near Brighton station, who have formed the People's Parking Protest, need to ask themselves a basic question.

Are there simply more cars in the area than there are parking spaces at most times of the day or evening?

The protesters blame NCP, which handles parking enforcement in Brighton and Hove, for over regulation.

But if people are parking on yellow lines or in residents' bays at the wrong time, they are committing an offence and should not complain if they get tickets.

There almost certainly are changes that can be made to parking bays and restrictions in some streets and the protesters could have a useful role in pointing them out to the city council.

But the new parking enforcement regime, implemented last summer, has generally been beneficial in creating more rather than fewer spaces for residents.

The constant growth in car ownership in a city with narrow streets is going to create increasing parking problems unless people either give up cars or find off-road spaces.