Workers clearing abandoned cars from the streets of Brighton and Hove are among the busiest in the UK, government figures have shown.

The environment department has revealed 2,260 wrecks were hauled away by Brighton and Hove City Council last year, an average of six each day.

Outside central London, the authority had one of the busiest dumped car programmes.

By comparison, Manchester and Newcastle shifted fewer than 2,500 vehicles between them.

But Birmingham tackled the most abandoned cars, clearing and crushing 10,368 in a year.

The details were released as part of the 2003/04 nationwide Municipal Waste Management Survey.

Government officials said removing abandoned cars was now a "considerable burden" on local taxpayers.

They have to bear the brunt because it is up to local authorities to pay for removal if the registered owner cannot be traced. If the owner can be found, the council can pursue them for costs.

Government estimates show about eight per cent of all abandoned vehicles are set alight.

Gill Mitchell, Brighton and Hove's community safety councillor, said: "These figures are certainly very worrying.

"Brighton and Hove does have a high number of dumped cars and this is a concern to residents. Fortunately, we have a very fast and efficient removal rate of abandoned vehicles.

"Although 2,260 vehicles have been removed, our officers investigate more than 7,000 vehicles reported as potentially abandoned.

"This means they are usually illegally parked or untaxed and officers issue notices to owners.

"Proactively, Operation Scrap It was launched in February. This joint venture with Sussex Police, NCP and the DVLA tackles the issue of abandoned and illegal vehicles. This is a concentrated one-day sweep each month and is reaping real results.

"Our message has continued to be that if your vehicle is not good enough for the road, get it off.

"Unfortunately, not all car owners are taking their responsibility seriously."