Motorists are calling for Parking enforcement to be taken back into the public domain.

NCP, Britain's biggest car park operator, is due to apply to renew its contract to provide wardens in Brighton and Hove but motorists have told The Argus they think the service should no longer be run for profit.

NCP made headline profits of £42 million before paying interest on turnover of £400 million in 2004. In the same year drivers in Brighton and Hove received the second highest number of parking tickets in the country - yielding an estimated £5 million to £10 million.

Councillors said NCP was doing a good job and there was no reason they should not keep the contract.

But drivers told The Argus it was time for change when the contract came up for renewal in September.

Steve Percy, of the Brightonbased People's Parking Protest, said: "All the parking companies are much of a muchness.

"They have to make money otherwise their shareholders will complain.

"The only way to be fair to the public is to bring the parking back in-house and have the council run it themselves."

There are four main parking companies in the UK though the council had about 20 tenders for the current contract, which began in 2003 and is due to end in January 2007.

The Argus has reported numerous complaints about NCP in the last 12 months.

Disabled driver Peter Gatt, of Freshfield Road, Brighton, accused attendants of causing tremendous amounts of stress for disabled people by wrongly issuing tickets.

He said: "It's time we got rid of NCP and gave another company a go. NCP wardens are completely unreasonable in the way they issue tickets.

"Parking enforcement has become a nightmare in the city and we need to try something new."

Teresa Baker, who owns Caring Lady Funeral Director with her husband Paul, told how one of the couple's funeral limousines was ticketed. Mr Baker, 54, said: "We just need a company that has some common sense in its ticketing.

"Of course people shouldn't park illegally but at the moment enforcement is entirely revenue-driven.

"It may not be they get bonuses for giving tickets but they know they will be in trouble if they don't give out a certain number."

NCP runs more than 580 car parks across the country, including 10 at airports, making it by far the largest commercial parking operator.

Outside Sussex it provides traffic wardens to the boroughs of Camden and Lewisham in London and Durham.

It also runs off-street parking for Westminster Council, where it was heavily criticised for running a competition to find the warden who imposed the most fines.

Tim Cowan, director of communications at NCP, said: "We are very proud of the way we enforce disabled parking spaces and if there wasn't effective enforcement the stress to blue badge holders would be considerably greater than it is now.

"The limousine referred to by Teresa Baker was not carrying mourners and was not part of a funeral party. If it had been we wouldn't have ticketed it.

"We have been delighted to provide an important service on behalf of Brighton and Hove City Council for several years and we hope very much that we will be able to continue our successful relationship and will be working very hard to that end."

Ted Kemble, Conservative spokesman for transport on Brighton and Hove City Council, said: "We haven't got the expertise to manage parking enforcement.

"NCP have done a reasonably good job and I am satisfied they don't have ticket quotas."

A council spokesman said: "We're currently preparing a contract specification for the parking contract. An advert is due to be placed in April, and a decision on the contractor is due in September."