Bicyclesleft in Brighton and Hove will be confiscated by police as they tighten security for the impending Labour Party Conference.

Sussex Police are warning they will take no chances in the run up to the conference, due to start on Sunday, September 25.

Bicycles are being removed to avoid a repeat of the IRA bike bomb blast in Bognor on August 13, 1994.

A bomb hidden in a bag on a bicycle chained to railings in the town centre detonated, causing damage to shops but no injuries.

Police found another bike chained up near the Palace Pier in Brighton with 5lbs of Semtex hidden in a saddle bag but carried out a controlled explosion before it could go off.

If it had detonated it would have killed anybody within a 50-yard radius.

Over the next few weeks bicycles left chained up near the Brighton Centre could be removed and taken to a police pound.

During the conference, police will aim to stop cyclists before they have time to chain their machines to the fences.

Sergeant Pete Hutin said: "We have removed quite a lot of bikes over the last year and it has been a challenge reuniting them with their owners."

There is no defined zone where bikes are not allowed but those with saddle bags or panniers parked near the conference centre are certain to be investigated by the police and could be removed.

Sgt Hutin said: "We are asking the public to use common sense.

"Bikes with panniers or saddle bags will be looked at as a potential risk.

"We will be removing them or looking at them to see if they pose a threat, which could mean some damage being incurred."

During the conference, the seafront outside the Brighton Centre will be fenced off and heavily guarded.

Sgt Hutin said: "We would hope when the conference is going people will not have time to park and chain their bikes to the railings.

Adam Pride, of Foredown Drive, Portslade, is a member of the Brighton, Hove and District Cycling Group. He said: "Security is the most important thing at the moment.

"But there should be notices telling people not to park their bicycles around town.

"They have the same rule in Westminster but they have signs telling people not to chain their bikes to the railings.

"I've never seen that in Brighton."