A spy-car armed with a CCTV camera on a periscope is the latest council weapon to be used against illegal parkers.

The high-tech vehicle is being trialed in Eastbourne, Lewes and Brighton and Hove for the next few weeks.

It will be put to use around schools to catch people parking dangerously, especially on keep clear lines.

But its opponents have already described its possible introduction as “sneaky”, “greedy” and part of a “war on motorists”.

No £70 fines will be issued during the trial, drivers will be sent warning letters instead.

But if the vehicle is brought in on a permanent basis, it is predicted the spy car could boost council coffers in excess of a million pounds.

In Waltham Forest, a borough of London with a smaller population than Brighton and Hove, the cars are already in operation and make the council more than £1.3 million each year.

Brighton and Hove City Council, which last year made £7.4 million from parking charges, recently came under fire for increasing charges again at city car parks.

Councillor Geoffrey Theobald, Brighton and Hove's cabinet member for transport, said the move followed crackdowns on dangerous parking at schools, including West Blatchington Primary, Hangleton Way, Hove and Rudyard Kipling Primary, Chalkland Rise, Woodingdean, He said: "For many schools parking around the school gates by a minority of drivers is a persistent problem. This car will be used to remind drivers to park responsibly.

"It will help keep our children safe, and also keep Brighton and Hove moving safely."

Leader of the opposition Labour group on Brighton and Hove City Council, Gill Mitchell, said: “This is really sneaky, and it seems to be the council is trying to wage war on the motorist.”