Traders complained today that new Parking restrictions will lose them thousands of pounds a year.

They say parts of Kemp Town, Brighton, have become a ghost town because shoppers cannot find anywhere to park.

Pay-and-display machines were introduced in George Street, Edward Street and St James's Street at the beginning of April and traders say they have seen a sharp decline in business.

Tom Mannouch, secretary of St James's Street Traders' Association, said a perception of Kemp Town as unsafe is also contributing to the area becoming a ghetto.

He said: "If you did not live in this area you would not come here to shop. We have got decent people struggling to make a living and we are being persecuted.

"You would think being near the seafront and the pier our businesses would be thriving but the place is deserted."

David Ford, director of Tranquility Plants and Aquatics, closed his George Street shop in Brighton, last Saturday and moved to premises with parking spaces in Warren Road, Woodingdean.

Mr Ford said: "The city centre has become a cafe culture where other businesses will not thrive. All Brighton and Hove City Council seem to want are cafes, bars and restaurants. It does not bear any resemblance to the way it was ten years ago.

"There is no alternative given to people in Brighton and Hove so they go to Crawley or even Portsmouth to escape shopping here."

Mr Mannouch, 47, of St James's Street, said: "We are losing business because of the parking scheme. Since the new restrictions were brought in we have found it extremely difficult to park and no one comes into the shops any more for fear of getting a £30 ticket.

"I find it very frustrating that the council keep moving the goal posts every five minutes. It is not interested in district shopping.

"The council seems to want to drive even more nails into the fate of small businesses in the city centre. You may as well build a brick wall along the A23 and A27 and start charging people to climb over it."

Dilip Chudasama, head postmaster at the post office in St James's Street, said he has noticed a drop in trade over the last year.

He said: "It is extremely quiet at the moment. It's nothing like it used to be two or three years ago. I am sure it must be related to the parking. The council is only out to make money. It has got to find extra revenue somehow and this is how it has chosen to do it. It is just another tax in disguise."

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokeswoman said the changes were part of a new parking scheme in the Queen's Park area which would be reviewed in six months.

A consultation on parking in Zone H, from Freshfield Road to Bristol Gardens, will begin in September.

Environment councillor Craig Turton said: "We have a city where there are more cars than parking spaces. I have every sympathy with traders trying to make a living but having difficulties because of a lack of spaces.

"Some of the problems have arisen because of displacement of cars from the Queen's Park area and the Royal Sussex County Hospital. Part of that is due to the services being relocated.

"The work to Eastern Road is also having an impact on traffic in the area.

"It is all intensifying a very difficult situation."

Gill Mitchell, chair of the environment committee, said: "With car ownership set to double by 2010 one of the biggest challenges we have to face is reducing the numbers of cars coming into the city centre.

"Parking enforcement is just one way of helping to control vehicles on our streets but we also have plans for major transport projects such as park and ride, bus-based rapid transport and improved traffic management systems.

"Our aim is to give customers and businesses real alternatives to the car when travelling in and around the city centre."