Councillors have awarded themselves a pay increase for the second time this year.

Members of Brighton and Hove's policy and resources committee voted for the rise with immediate effect.

It is the third increase in 18 months and will add another £20,000 to the budget.

Last year, the council agreed to replace attendance allowances with a flat-rate payment.

Earlier this year that payment was increased from £5,000 to £8,000 with rises in special responsibility allowances for cabinet councillors.

But the allowances for the council leader and members of the cabinet were cut from the originally agreed increase so payments could be made to lead councillors.

Now the committee has restored the original allowance of £22,000 a year for council leader Lynette Gwyn Jones, an increase from £16,400.

The other eight members of the cabinet will see their allowances restored to the original rate of £10,000 from £7,200.

The 17 lead councillors will still get their £2,000. New payments of £1,000 will be made to each of the eight shadow Tory members of the cabinet.

Liberal Democrat group leader Coun Paul Elgood opposed the rises.

He said: "This is the third time allowances have increased.

"It would have been far better in the eyes of the public to have done it all at once. It's a mistake to keep bringing this issue back.

"I think public perception here is very poor.

"Who else in our community has three pay rises in a year?"

Officers pointed out the previous arrangements had only meant to be temporary and the new figures had been recommended by an independent panel.

Councillors have refused to formally rule out a park-and-ride site on a downland beauty spot. Brighton and Hove Council decided to opt for a "criteria-based approach" in its on-going search for a suitable location for a park-and-ride development.

But environmentalists failed to persuade councillors to formally rule out Waterhall north of the A27 from future plans. Around 20 demonstrators gathered outside Hove Town Hall to fight the park-and-ride proposals before a meeting of the committee.

The meeting was called to approve the first deposit draft of the Local Plan which details the council's vision for the area for the next 20 years.

The document is expected to be published next month, to be followed by a six-week period of public consultation.

Proposals to introduce a new bylaw to ban people from drinking on the streets has been welcomed by councillors. The measures are being sought to combat drunks who threaten and intimidate members of the public.

The bylaw was proposed by Coun Jackie Lythell at the committee meeting following problems in St James's Street, Kemp Town.

The committee agreed for a report to be prepared for the committee's next meeting next month.

A public consultation exercise has begun on proposals to cut the number of councillors and re-draw the ward boundaries across Brighton and Hove.

The draft scheme proposed by Brighton and Hove Council will reduce the number of councillors from 78 to 64 following an electoral review by the Local Government Commission.

The proposals will also cut four wards from the area leaving 20 wards of three members and two wards of two members, Woodingdean and Portslade South.

Council officers insist this is the only way to maintain around 60 councillors while achieving electoral equality by which each councillor represents a similar number of constituents.