TOUGH new measures to improve parking around a hospital are to be considered.

A chronic shortage of spaces around The Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton has led patients and staff to complain they are unable to park.

A a surgeon who quit the NHS last month said the problem was one of his reasons for leaving.

More pay and display parking spaces are being suggested under the plans to reassess the rules in parking zone H, the area in Kemp Town which includes the hospital.

For the first time residents would be asked to pay for parking permits and told they could not have more than one per household.

A draft of the proposals was approved yesterday by Brighton and Hove City Council's environment committee.

They have been welcomed by owners of small businesses who claim their customers have been driven away by the lack of spaces.

James Charter is chairman of the Kemp Town Village Business Association and owner of Egg and Spoon homeware and interior design shop in St George's Road.

He said: "If they keep the pricing sensible I think it will keep people moving. It depends how they do it."

Mr Charter said there had been problems with vehicles coming to zone H because there was no room to park in zone C further west.

He added: "I don't think there is enough parking for the hospital for staff and people visiting."

David Ford, director of Tranquillity Aquatic and Reptile Centre, moved his business from Kemp Town to Warren Road, Woodingdean, last month because he said parking rules had reduced his trade by 70 per cent.

He thought the review was too little, too late.

He said: "This is just a no-go area. The trouble is it takes you years to get customers to come, then when they get put off they don't come back."

Currently 90 per cent of spaces in zone H are for residents only or allow two to four hours' free parking which brings in no revenue.

The revised scheme is anticipated to start in autumn 2006. It is expected to cost £500,000 to implement and would bring in £500,000 a year.

Charges for short-term parking would be 50p for up to 30 minutes, £1 for two hours, £2 for four hours and £3 for 11 hours.

There is currently no waiting list for a permit. A public consultation is likely to take place this September.

There are car clubs in Kemp Town that offer people the chance to pay to use a car on an occasional basis.

A spokeswoman for the hospital trust said it would take part in the review.