Builders and tradesmen are furious after being told they can no longer get permits to park on double-yellow lines while they work.

Electricians, builders, carpetlayers and other tradesmen working in central Hove were able to apply for temporary permits allowing them to park on double-yellow lines near their jobs.

Now they have been told they will no longer be able to get permits for the 50 streets which make up Brighton and Hove's parking zone N. Instead, they have been told to use pay-and-display bays.

Roger McArthur, of G&A Builders, said: "When the new parking rules came in last summer the council said we could have these waivers which allowed us to park on double-yellows while working for up to two weeks.

"Now we are going to have to pay more than £500 a year to park while we work.

"The council told me the police said it was dangerous for us to park on double-yellows but it is not dangerous. Anyway, the waivers already said we had to move if a police officer said we were causing a danger.

"Disabled badge-holders are still allowed to park there. I have seen big Mercedes and BMWs with blue and orange stickers on double-yellows and the parking wardens leave them alone.

"How can it be dangerous for us and not for them? This is affecting every trader and is just a scam to make more money for the council."

As well as costing as much as £10 a day to park, Mr McArthur said the change in the rules would make it harder to get his job done.

He said: "You cannot always get into one of the ten-hour bays so we would have to use the short-term ones, which means moving the van every two hours.

"When I went to work in Church Road, the only bay I could get in was at the top of Norton Road, more than 100 yards from where I was working.

"So every time I needed a tin of paint from the van I had to walk all the way up there."

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: "We have had a lot of complaints from residents in Norton Road about parking on double-yellows.

"We were advised by the police that vehicles parking on the double-yellow lines could be dangerous because they cause an obstruction so we have taken the decision not to issue any more waivers in that area.

"We do still issue some waivers but only in very exceptional circumstances. There are no waivers for zone N, none for The Lanes and none for busy bus routes such as Western Road.

"The difference with disabled badge-holders is they are usually only parked on a double-yellow for a short time while they go to a shop or a bank, whereas traders' vans are more likely to be there all day."