Hanover and Elm Grove community leaders have overwhelmingly voted to reject plans to punish pavement parkers.

After years of turning a blind eye, Brighton and Hove City Council yesterday unveiled plans to enforce the double yellow line restrictions against motorists in Elm Grove, Brighton.

This would see those leaving their vehicles parked on the pavements in the street hit with a fine of up to |£70.

But members of the Hanover and Elm Grove Local Action Team (LAT), a group set up for officials to discuss issues with local residents, said they had no idea the local authority was drawing revised plans.

This was despite a group being |set up at its last meeting to look at the wide issue of parking in the area.

When the Elm Grove issue was discussed, 24 out of 30 people who attended (80%) voted to reject the enforcement plan. The remaining six abstained.

Despite the local opposition, council chiefs last night said it was committed to allowing councillors to make the decision at a town hall meeting on Tuesday.

Wilf Nicholls, who lives in Bonchurch Road, Brighton, was part of a group set up by the LAT to look at parking in the area.

He said: “I was surprised and very disappointed they were discussed at the end of at last night’s meeting without any prior notification or discussion.

“The vast majority of residents and businesses on Elm Grove continue to be against enforcement and we should have held a separate meeting to discuss this.”

When first suggested two years ago, local opposition over fears it would cause congestion and push more cars into side streets saw the council drop the enforcement plan.

A new proposal to install dedicated bays in the long road was rejected by two-thirds of responders in January.

Now council officials have reverted back to the original scheme to enforce against parking adjacent to double yellow lines either on the road or on the pavement.

Green councillor Pete West, chairman of the council’s environment committee, said this was because the situation was becoming “too dangerous”.

He added: “The council must consider how to balance the needs of residents against the very serious safety concerns for pedestrians and for drivers, especially around the junctions.”

A decision on whether to push ahead with the plans will be discussed by the council’s environment committee next Tuesday.

If agreed, it will be enforced from November 3 with warning letters first being sent out for two weeks ahead.