The huge rise in street Parking charges in the centre of Brighton and Hove has been attacked by traders as unjustified and premature.

An hour's parking in the city centre has increased by 50 per cent from £2 to £3 while in surrounding streets the 50p hourly rate has risen to £1.50.

The council said the hikes were needed to reduce congestion in the city centre and encourage more people to use the buses.

But traders said they would simply drive people away from Brighton and Hove to other towns, cities and shopping destinations.

Andy Peck, who runs Lace in East Street, said: "Parking charges have gone up 50 per cent overnight without warning and it is bound to hit traders sooner or later.

"People will be deterred from coming into town if parking becomes prohibitively expensive. If there was a park-and-ride system in place it might be more understandable.

"But for many people the car is the only realistic way of getting into the city centre so we should not be penalising these people. It's totally unjustified.

"There are numerous reasons why people need to drive into the city centre - it's not just shopping.

"The council is great at organising events, especially on the seafront, but more needs to be done to attract people into the centre of town."

Alberto Taverna, who co-runs Al Duomo Al Forno restaurant, said the transport infrastructure in Brighton and Hove was failing to keep pace with the city's growing reputation.

He said: "I have received many complaints from customers about the cost of parking.

"If there was a park-and-ride scheme these increases would make sense but we are not providing people with a realistic alternative to the car.

"Brighton now has a national and international reputation. But we have been dragging our feet for so long over parking. It's time we started banging some heads together.

"If it takes two hours to get into town and then you get charged £3 to park for an hour, people will start to go elsewhere. It's inevitable."

The council hopes the price hikes will make travelling by bus more attractive. The previous hourly charge of £2.50 was below the price of a Saver bus ticket.

The increases will raise more than £3 million extra for the council in a full year, money which must be spent on improvements to transport.

Wednesday September 08, 2004