By Ginnie Hooper and Grace Clarke

Withdean residents are concerned van rental companies are compromising road safety by parking vans in the streets around the area.

Neighbours are angry at the number of vans parked around Withdean Stadium and along Tongdean Lane, causing an obstruction.

Tina Norkett, 43, of Withdean Rise, said: "People come down the hill on Withdean Road at speed.

“It was never an issue until the companies started parking their vans there.

“Now you have to pull out onto the wrong side of the road to get past them and you risk getting hit by a car coming down the hill."

Ms Norkett said while there had been no reported incidents in the area, she feels an accident is inevitable.

Sue Shanks, Green Party councillor for the Brighton and Hove authority Withdean ward, said: "As the vans are on the public highway we can't do anything about them, unless they are causing an obstruction, when the police would act."

Jon Ashe, the owner of icanhire vans, said he always responds positively to complaints about vans parked in front of people's homes.

He said: "People forget that we all own public roads and can park whatever we like in terms of licensed vehicles on any unrestricted street for as long as we choose.

"The big rental companies are using these places to park their spare stock because presumably they don't have enough space in their depots, whereas our business model depends on it."

Branch relocation

A larger rental van company parking in the area is Hertz.

Its Brighton depot is located at Mellville Road.

Zoe White, director of external and internal communications at Hertz, said: "We are looking to relocate our current branch in Brighton to accommodate all of the necessary vehicles within our compound.

“In the meantime there have been occasions where we have had to park excess vehicles away from our location.”