Plans to wipe out free Parking in central Brighton are being scrutinised.

Brighton and Hove City Council is consulting on proposals to end free parking, replace all two and four-hour bays with residents' permit and pay and display bays and extend restrictions to Sundays.

Voucher bays would also be scrapped.

The jigsaw of eight parking zones in central Brighton would be abolished and two new zones introduced.

Residents would be able to buy permits to park anywhere in the south central or north central zone.

The council says the restructuring will make it easier for people to park near their homes and iron out anomalies.

Traders and residents working and living in the affected areas received a booklet outlining the proposals and have until October 31 to comment.

Economist Neil Brown, 23, sold his car when he moved to Norfolk Terrace because he could not park anywhere near his home.

He said: "The waiting list for a permit was so long I decided to get rid of the car. It was impossible to find anywhere to park at the end of the day."

David Willment, 36, of Compton Avenue, Brighton, said: "The proposals are a very good idea - it's about time the council tried to sort out the parking. I have been on a waiting list for a permit for 18 months so anything they can do to shorten this would be wonderful.

"I haven't seen my car in about six weeks. I abandoned it in Hove because that's the only place I could find to park."

There are currently 370 free bays, 700 voucher bays and 1,200 resident permit bays in central Brighton.

The new zones would run from Western Street up past Seven Dials, along New England Road and Viaduct Road to The Level and down Lewes Road to the Old Steine.

The boundary between the north and south zones would run along North Road, Church Street, Clifton Terrace, Victoria Road and Temple Gardens.

But motorists' groups have protested, saying they will not end congestion in the city.

Steve Percy, of the People's Parking Protest, said: "There are already more permit-holders than there are parking bays.

"The council says it is going to improve the parking by giving out more permits but the free bays are already being used by permit-holders because they haven't got anywhere to park.

"If they don't want more cars in Brighton why are they giving out more permits?

"The only useful thing to come out of it will be getting rid of the very small zones that only have one or two streets.

"It will mean people in those zones can park further up the street instead of in one small area."

Roger McArthur, chairman of Tradesmen Against Parking Persecution (TAPP), has a trader's permit which is valid in residents' bays until 4pm.

He said: "The new system will make it harder and harder to park. The council has already over-allocated the permits so it won't get any easier if they give out more.

"It is a nightmare around the Montpelier area with people queuing and parking illegally everywhere."

The results of the consultation will be discussed by the environment committee in December or January, depending on the volume of comments and the new scheme could be in place by next summer.

Councillor Gill Mitchell, who chairs the environment committee, urged people to return the questionnaires.

She said: "We want very much to get the balance right."