Traders fear parking controls will force them out of business.

The crackdown on illegal parking means some business will have to leave the city, Brighton and Hove Chamber of Commerce was told.

President Chris Shanks said, in general, parking rationing was essential in a situation where demand exceeded supply.

However he said the scheme could be improved and hoped that the council would listen to the recommendations from the business community.

Ann Townsend from the Federation of Small Businesses said: "This could force some people out of business."

She said many small firms had to make deliveries and were being ticketed all the time.

She said often they used vans which could not fit in multi-storey car parks; workers were delivering heavy items and had to be close to the shop concerned and often had to wait a few minutes to complete paperwork.

She suggested the council should urgently consider putting some loading bays in where they were wanted and needed.

Ms Townsend said the council had not solved the parking problem but merely displaced cars to other areas.

She said there were no more cars using the car parks, so it was likely many people were giving up shopping in Brighton and Hove to go elsewhere.

But Roger French, managing director of Brighton and Hove Buses said public transport was now much more effective, with cleared bus stops and less double parking.

Peter Stocker of North Laine Traders thought that customer parking was easier because parking spaces were becoming available.

Council traffic expert Peter Bloxam, who is responsible for dealing with complaints and comments about the new scheme, said that the intention was to gather as much information as possible so that constructive changes could be made after six months.

Many members complained that the new traffic wardens did not exercise enough discretion.

It was difficult for businesses both to receive and make deliveries in an atmosphere where wardens were writing tickets after a two-minute stop on a yellow line, the meeting heard.

Although it was possible to get a special parking permit in advance, this was impractical for service companies who often had very short notice of where the next job was to be.

Mr Bloxham said permits were being considered for traders as well as more single yellow lines in some areas.

The possibility of dual use of residents parking bays, many of which were empty during the day, was being considered.

A council spokeswoman said both the fire brigade and bus company had reported a great improvement since the scheme came into being.

She added: "The scheme is working very well. People need to be reminded that pedestrians and bus passengers also have money in their pockets.

"The way in which we have implemented the scheme, with short-term parking, means that many traders should benefit from it instead of having commuters there all day.

"People can unload and load but should be obvious about it and efficient. They should not leave vehicles unattended."