You have heard of pay-as-you-go mobile phones - now try pay-as-you-go driving.

A scheme which promises to solve parking problems by hiring cars by the hour is launched today.

Devised by friends Andrew Valentine and Brett Akker, My Streetcar allows drivers to give up their car for good and use one of three hire cars dotted around Brighton and Hove.

They hope it will put an end to the hours of wasted time spent searching for a parking space.

Once drivers have signed up, the James Bond-style technology installed in the VW Golfs unlocks the doors with the swipe of a smart card programmed with details of the booking.

A pin number is punched into the dashboard and the glove box drops open to reveal the keys.

When your time is up you return the car to its original space in time for the next user.

The on-board computer tots up how long the car is used for and debits your bank account monthly.

Tony Wilson, director of a recruitment agency, previewed the scheme first launched in London on Friday, and has now signed up all his employees.

Mr Wilson, 32, of Buckingham Road, Brighton, said: "When I moved to Adelaide Crescent last March I was given two tickets and had my car towed away twice in the first weekend.

"I had been told I was allowed to park there while I moved in but the parking attendants didn't seem to care. That weekend cost me about £400.

"I ended up parking on the other side of the city in Hanover because that was the only place without restrictions where I could leave my car."

After discovering it would be at least 18 months before he could get a permit Mr Wilson sold his Audi and looked for an alternative solution.

He said: "It was ridiculous. I lived in the area yet I couldn't park there.

"Then the council changed it to pay and display. It seems they only think about tourists and the whole thing is a money-making machine."

He booked a car for six hours on Friday at a cost of £4.95 an hour and said he will never go back to having his own car while he lives in Brighton and Hove.

He said: "It was just too much hassle before but this is absolutely ideal.

With other hire companies you have to go through a rigmarole giving your details every time. Now I just need to phone and book and I'm ready to go.

"I would use it just to go shopping because it's cheaper than getting a taxi."

The web site, www.mystreetcar.co.uk , tells users the location of the cars down to the specific parking space in Hove, Brighton and Kemp Town.

Andrew Valentine, company director, hopes to expand to ten sites in Brighton and Hove by the end of the year. The scheme promises to have a car available 95 per cent of the time in the driver's chosen location and 99 per cent of the time in their second choice.

He said: "Brighton has the same kinds of pressures as London - it's difficult to find spaces and running a car is expensive.

"Customers know they can take the car out in the morning and return it easily to the same space at night. The cars are so high-tech we don't worry about them getting stolen at all.

"We have had a great response and we are hoping to have several hundreds of members within a couple of months."