A car abandoned outside a restaurant for more than two years is still waiting to be moved after the council tried to tow the wrong one away.

Allan Paul, manager of Le Gastronome in Hampton Place, Brighton, was astounded when contractors for Brighton and Hove Council tried to shift a red van instead of the burnt out shell of a Ford Fiesta next to it.

Mr Paul said: "The van belongs to my neighbour, is fully taxed, insured and in good condition whereas the Fiesta is burnt out, broken down, vandalised and full of rubbish.

"I wouldn't have known what they were doing if they hadn't asked me to close the gate so they could get their lorry through."

Mr Paul has been trying to get the red car, which was torched on Christmas Day, towed away for the past six months. He is worried it could be set alight again or rubbish dumped inside could attract vermin.

But when he asked the contractors to move the abandoned car instead of the van, they refused.

He said: "They said they didn't have the authority from the council to tow it because they had been told it was a red van.

"I couldn't believe it when they left without the car.

"It seems ridiculous that it is such a bureaucratic nightmare to tow it away."