A motorist parked his car overnight only to find the next day it had vanished and double yellow lines had been painted in its place.

Brighton and Hove Council's highways department had towed the car away so contractors could paint the yellow lines on Somerhill Avenue in Hove.

The car was moved to a spot in nearby Silverdale Avenue.

Car owner David Wells, 31, of Farm Road, Hove, says he did not see any signs warning the work was to take place on Thursday.

The council states it fixed one warning to the street sign and another to a sign post on Tuesday.

Mr Wells said he checked to make sure it was a safe place to park but didn't spot the bright yellow plastic warning signs.

He said: "I thought it had been stolen at first. I was really shocked.

"I called my girlfriend to make sure she hadn't moved it while I had been out the night before but she hadn't.

"I was on my way to work so I had to call a cab. I looked again at the spot where my car had been and realised there were two lines of fresh yellow paint on the road.

"It dawned on me that my car might not have been nicked but towed away because I was positive there were no lines there before.

"I really didn't see any signs or I wouldn't have parked there.

"I drove around for about half an hour to find a suitable spot because I'm always really cautious about where I park. There were cones on the corner of the street, stacked on top of each other, and two on the other side, but none in the spot where I parked."

The council towed away one other car and was about to tow a third when the motorist turned up.

A council spokeswoman said: "It is standard practice if cars are parked where work is due to take place.

Satisfied "We have to get the work done and we have to get work done on schedule.

"Signs are always put up. It's made very clear if cars are parked in these streets during that time, we are authorised to move them.

"I think we are quite satisfied we give adequate notice and the signs are quite adequate for the job.

"We don't get a lot of people parking in contravention of these notices. It's very unfortunate the odd person misses them but we are happy with the arrangements. To be honest, motorists should be more observant."