Campaigners are calling for the number of Parking permits sold by Brighton and Hove city council to be slashed to one per space.

The People's Parking Protest says the 12,000 permits given out by the council are too many for the 7,000 spaces available.

Chairman Steve Percy said: "If the council really wants to stop congestion it should sell only one permit for each space."

The group also wants the council to run the operation rather than NCP, which makes a profit from parking.

It says profits made from parking schemes must be used to increase the number of spaces to the maximum capacity before anything is spent on other transport projects.

In addition, the organisation wants the method of dealing with complaints to be revised and simplified and believes parking attendants should be more effectively vetted to make sure they are suitable for the job.

The council allocates on average 1.6 permits for every space.

A spokeswoman said: "We do this to try to make the best use of the parking spaces available so residents and businesses can take advantage of the turnover of spaces.

"In some areas the demand for permits is heavily oversubscribed, with waiting lists of nearly two years.

"If we issued one permit per parking space, it would reduce the number of permits available still further.

"As our reviews demonstrate, we are always open to suggestions to improve and streamline the service.

"All parking attendants undertake training both in the classroom and on the street.

"They then double up with an experienced attendant before they are allowed to go out on their own."

Wednesday March 17, 2004