It has been two years, 284,488 tickets, 92 appeals and £8 million since Brighton and Hove City Council signed a four-year Parking management deal with NCP.

A team of more than 70 NCP employees patrols the city's streets seven days a week.

NCP signed a four- year contract with Brighton and Hove City Council to operate the city's on-street parking management in July 2001. It has since dished out 284,488 penalty charge notices, the equivalent of about 390 a day.

Of the parking tickets issued - equivalent to 390 a day - just 41 have been successfully challenged through the council and the National Parking Adjudication Service.

Transport councillor Simon Battle said the no-nonsense approach had ensured the system's effectiveness.

He said: "What we aimed to do two years ago was tackle the chronic problems of illegal, anti-social parking in the city. We wanted to make it easier for residents to park near to their homes and allow traffic, especially buses, to flow more easily through the city centre.

"In my view, we have improved the situation dramatically.

"There is now an understanding among motorists that if they park illegally, they will be given a ticket or, worse, see their vehicle towed away. It may seem an aggressive tactic but if we had not taken such a firm stance, we would still be stuck with an anarchic parking scheme."

money from fines has brought in about £8 million in two years. NCP running costs account for about £2.5 million a year. In the first year of operation, the council spent £1.3 million on public transport and highways improvements.

The council has refused to release details of this year's spending figures, as accounts have yet to be audited and NCP's annual report is due to be published in eight weeks.

Whatever they reveal, the scheme has certainly come at a dear price for some motorists.

Among them is builder Robert Young, 32, who said he was wrongly given a fine while parked in a four-hour bay in Brighton after a traffic warden said the position of his wheel valves proved he had exceeded the time limit.

Mr Young, from Hangleton, challenged the decision, claiming he moved his car earlier in the day, before returning to the same spot.

Despite his protests he was landed with a £60 fine after missing a deadline to return his appeal documentation.

He said: "If you are illegally parked it is fair you are given a ticket, because congestion is clearly a huge problem in Brighton and Hove. But if you're not and you are still given a ticket, it's a disgrace.

"In my case, I felt whatever I said was being ignored. I had statements from witnesses who had seen me driving away from the bay but that was not enough. It was a case of standing up against the big boys and in the end I had no chance. I am not surprised such a small number of people have won their appeals against the council - they make it so difficult to challenge them."

Although Mr Young's protest was not upheld, there have been glaring mistakes by NCP attendants.

In June last year, a hearse was given a ticket after being spotted on double-yellow lines outside Bungard and Sons in Sackville Road, Hove. Funeral directors had parked the vehicle outside their garage to discreetly unload a body.

The council was forced to admit issuing the fine went against its own rules and overturned the NCP attendant's decision.

Bungard and Sons funeral director James Whittle said: "Although they should follow the rules, it is down to individual attendants to use their common sense when issuing tickets. If the man had just taken a few minutes to look around he would have understood the situation."

At a policy and resources committee meeting in March this year, councillors approved the spending of £177,000 on a raft of schemes to improve transport in the city.

Among them were an additional ten to 12 real-time information displays at city bus stops.

Plans were also approved to improve humps in Western Road, Brighton, and to lay paving at 19 city bus stops. Additional money has been spent subsidising late-night and Sunday bus services, which would not otherwise have been financially viable. New residents' parking schemes have also been introduced and cameras installed in bus lanes.

The council promises there is more to come.

Coun Battle said: "The city council intends holding consultations for schemes to be administered in more areas throughout Brighton and Hove in the future.

We want people to be able to see exactly how the money is being spent."

Friday June 13, 2003