Parking attendants are set to go on strike after bosses cancelled their Christmas party and bonuses.

About 120 staff plan to down tools the weekend before Christmas in Brighton and Hove - creating a chaotic parking free-for-all on the busiest shopping days of the year.

NCP Services, which patrols the city streets on behalf of Brighton and Hove City Council, has told staff it cannot afford the cost of a party or an annual bonus - usually a £25 Argos voucher for each year of service for the firm.

But the GMB union, which represents NCP attendants and support staff, said the claim was ludicrous and criticised the "Scrooge-like" firm.

GMB organiser Rachel Lyons said: "'This is the worst Christmas present NCP could give to its hardworking staff.

"NCP was recently bought by private equity firm 3i, which has systematically stripped its assets by selling off the car parks business - making a cool £235 million in profit - and which now wishes to claw back a miserly sum from the staff.

"GMB members will stand firm on this issue and I would urge the company to do the right thing and reinstate what they have taken away."

Tim Cowen, of NCP Services, said that while cost was an issue, a Yuletide bonus was considered inappropriate as some employees do not celebrate Christmas. He also suggested it might be inappropriate for a transport firm to hold a boozy festive bash.

He said: "Ensuring that we offer value for money to the local councils who employ us is absolutely central to our business so it is important that we are always cost-conscious in the way we run our business.

"Nevertheless, we recognise that our people are crucial to our business and we will continue to talk staff representatives about these decisions but they are important and they are designed to ensure that we continue to deliver best value services.

"We feel that as one of the most diverse workforces in the UK - employing people from more than 100 countries - it is perhaps not any longer appropriate just to recognise Christmas celebrations.

"It has never been a company policy to organise Christmas parties for staff, and as leading transport industry employer it could be seen as inappropriate to organise an event involving alcohol."

In a consultative ballot 86 per cent of staff said they would be in favour of strike action. A vote will take place in seven days time and if agreed the three-day strike would begin on December 20.

NCP also has contracts in Worthing, Eastbourne and Lewes, although GMB only has members in Worthing and they are not expected to join in the strike.

Up until last year staff were given Argos points worth £50 for each year of service completed, but last year the bonus was halved and now it has disappeared completely.

The firm usually hires a venue for a party and offers limited free drinks. Last year it took place at the King and Queen pub in Marlborough Place, Brighton.

One parking attendant in Brighton, who asked to remain anonymous as he feared for his job, said the news was a 'kick in the teeth'.

He said: "We work hard in all weathers, taking all sorts of abuse for a minimal wage so that £25 means a lot to us.

"It's nothing to them and we feel we've got to take a stand. There will be free parking for three days in Brighton and Hove. The council are going to go mad."

A colleague in Hove said the party was "usually quite a dismal affair - a few curled-up sandwiches and a free drink", but that its cancellation was the final straw.

She said: "They are getting to be such a greedy company. We keep getting bought out and everyone wants their cut.

"Things just get worse and worse. With our uniforms, for example, they send us out in the pouring rain in boots that are not waterproof. When you go back to the office to dry out they send you back out, even though you've got damp feet.

"I know people don't like parking attendants very much but I work with some lovely, lovely people. It's not an easy job and for the job we do we don't get paid much at all."

NCP has changed hands three times since 1998. Current owners 3i paid £555m for the entire business two years ago but back in March it split the company in two and sold off the car parks branch to an Australian bank for £790m - making a £235 million profit.

Staff get paid £6.59 per hour.