Having decided to spend a quiet night in with friends last Saturday to avoid the inevitable congestion resulting from the Fatboy Slim gig, we found it impossible to park our car anywhere within reasonable distance of the house.

Out of sheer desperation and as a practical compromise we left the vehicle on a double yellow line at the sealed end of Leighton Road, Hove, where there are five quiet one-way streets in an enclave bordered by Sackville Road, Old Shoreham Road, the tip and the railway.

The yellow lines are a relic of the previous era when this provided a cut-through to avoid the main Sackville Road junction.

The supposed potential for obstruction no longer exists. Parking is generally feasible for residents and visitors but that night proved very much the exception to the rule.

We received a parking ticket at 7.30 on Sunday morning and our friends' vehicle was towed away to the pound across the street, bringing the total cost of the evening to just under £200. In reality, neither vehicle was causing an obstruction.

The reaction of the parking services is just another churlish example of simple exploitation, designed to manufacture a problem where none exists.

For sure, the protestations of countless local residents who routinely receive the same treatment will be used as evidence to falsify the campaign to create yet another permit-controlled parking zone.

The simplest solution must surely be to allow residents to park free of charge and to make the visitors pay.

In addition, Homebase and the Sackville Road industrial estate have significant car-parking facilities that remain empty between 8pm and 8am.

The release of these sites for overnight parking would make a significant difference to the wider locality, especially on such occasions.

Surely pragmatism should triumph over profit in a city so noted for its supposed egalitarianism?

-Gail Miles, Prinsep Road, Hove