Councils should take care before clamping or towing away a vehicle, a Parking appeal service has warned.

Many drivers do not realise they have a right to appeal against a penalty charge notice, an annual report from the National Parking Adjudication Service (NPAS) added.

After one towing-away incident, an NPAS adjudicator drew a council's attention to the Human Rights Act.

The NPAS said it had become concerned at the number of cases of vehicles clamped or towed away in which councils had elected not to contest the appeal made by the owner.

Brighton and Hove City Council said it is "speculation" to suggest car-towing could be challenged under the human rights act.

A council spokesman said: "Our understanding is that any case would have to demonstrate that a car was towed away for no good reason. Most tow-aways are are from double yellow lines where a hazard is caused and from disabled bays - both of which constitute very good reasons."

The NPAS report said: "It is important that the decision to clamp a vehicle or to tow it away is made with care and only in circumstances in which the council seriously believes that its decision can be justified.

"There must be significant justification for towing away a vehicle at night. In some cases, removal may even jeopardise a driver's safety."

The report said councils in England and Wales issued 2.85 million penalty charge notices for parking offences in 2004, of which only 10,441 were appealed.

It said a survey by Birmingham University showed there was "considerable lack of public awareness of the right to appeal" and that the NPAS should "take immediate steps to raise awareness of the right".

Birmingham issued the most penalty notices (174,852) in 2004, with Brighton and Hove issuing 168,172 and Manchester 135,970.

The report says that 6,117 tows were requested in Brighton and Hove, up from 3,629 in 2003. Of 46 appeals, 17 were upheld. In Bristol, the figure was 6,256 in 2004.

Louise Filan, 28, from Worthing, said she had had her car towed away three times.

On one occasion, she said was with her husband when she found it missing at 11.30pm close to Brighton's Palace Pier.

She said: "Neither of us had credit on our mobiles and we didn't know where to go to.

"In the end, somebody called us a taxi to take us to the car pound. We had to pay £135 and didn't get home until about 2am. If you haven't got money on you, how are you supposed to get to the pound?"

Another time, Louise said she was alone with her two children who were feeling unwell. She said: "I pulled the car over and asked a hotel if I could use their toilets. One of them was sick, and I cleaned them up and went outside to find the car towed.

"My husband came over in his car, thank goodness. They should at least put something saying your car has been towed, you have no idea where it is."

According to the NPAS report, removing vehicles should be considered a last resort, used when the car is causing an obstruction.

If it is not, the council could be in breach of article one of the Human Rights Act covering property protection.

The council spokesman added: "Sections of the media are getting very excited but our guess is it will come to nothing and won't be used to challenge the principle of towing away most illegally parked vehicles.

A spokesman for NCP, the company responsible for towing cars in Brighton and Hove, said: "We have no position on this issue."