Hundreds more cars are being left to rust in the streets than five years ago because of scrapping charges.

Taxpayers are footing the bill for removing and scrapping the dumped cars, which is estimated to cost councils across Sussex millions of pounds.

Lewes has seen the biggest increase in abandoned vehicles, with 284 being collected and destroyed so far this year.

Between April 1997 and March 1998 eight vehicles were removed but between April 2001 and March 2002 that figure jumped to 382, costing the council £17,000.

During the same period in Brighton and Hove, 7,000 vehicles were reported, compared with 2,100 five years ago. About a quarter of those were collected and scrapped by the council.

In Mid Sussex the figure has risen from 37 vehicles between 1997 and 1998 to 370 from April 2001 to March this year.

Worthing has seen an three-fold increase from 248 vehicles in 1997 to 1998 to 890 since March.

Plummeting scrap metal prices have prompted owners to leave unwanted vehicles on the street.

Ann de Vecchi, Leader of Lewes District Council, said: "We could be spending the money on other things which would benefit the community."

Owners can be fined £2,500 or jailed for up to three months for abandoning a car. In Lewes, however, there were no prosecutions last year.