A barrister is to argue in the High Court that every Parking ticket ever issued by Brighton and Hove City Council is invalid.

The council is trying to push city company Glowzone into liquidation to get £9,000 it owes in unpaid penalty notices.

The company, owned by Mike Gurney, has a fleet of eight vans which travel across Brighton and Hove every day to fix gas and water leaks.

While the firm's workers are dealing with emergencies they are often issued with parking tickets - hundreds a year.

Mr Gurney said he always paid the tickets if the van was causing an obstruction or inconvenience but refused when they were parked in a residents' bay or somewhere similar.

Last year, Glowzone, based in Beaconsfield Road, Brighton, was being taken to court by the city council but Mr Gurney agreed to hand over about £5,000 in unpaid fines at the last minute.

This year he has instructed solicitor Stephen Sutton, whose firm will argue that every parking ticket issued by the city council since decriminalisation in 2001 was invalid for technical reasons.

Similar cases have been fought and won through the National Parking Adjudication Service (NPAS) but this is the first time a case has been considered by High Court judges.

Mr Sutton, who will instruct a barrister to fight the case, said: "If we are right, and we are confident, then every parking ticket that has been issued by Brighton and Hove City Council and every one being issued on the streets right now is invalid. It could be good news for the citizens of Brighton and Hove.

"The council could put up a white flag before we get to court.

"But if they do that, what about all the other citizens of Brighton and Hove who have paid all that money?

"It could be a massive financial liability for the council."

He added: "The council has an odd attitude to local businesses trying to do an important service for people, including the elderly and vulnerable. It's not very nice considering my client and his clients are council tax and rate payers."

Barry Segal, 59, who runs Appeal Now, a lobby group which helps motorists appeal against parking tickets, believes Mr Gurney has a good chance of winning the case.

He said: "The legality of parking tickets has never been argued in the High Court before.

"This will make national headlines. I think they have an excellent chance as similar wording has been found by the national parking adjudicator to make tickets invalid in other cases."

Mr Sutton's firm Suttons Solicitors will be arguing that the penalty notices issued by the city council fail to comply with Section 66 (3) of the Road Traffic Act 1991.

One example is that the council's notice states "if no payment is received" but the Act says the ticket should say "if the penalty charge is not paid".

Cases against London councils in Wandsworth and Westminster were upheld by NPAS, resulting in the authorities rewriting their penalty notices.

The case is being heard in the High Court on Tuesday.

Mr Gurney said that when the police were responsible for parking tickets the company's workers would leave a notice in the van window with an address where they were working and the warden could tell them if the vehicle needed to be moved.

Mr Gurney, 48, who employs about 13 people, said: "The council said we could have one trader's permit but that's pretty pointless as there would still be seven other vans getting tickets.

"We have got no chance sometimes, there's just nowhere to park. We are carrying out a vital service."

The council is attempting to wind up Glowzone to recover £3,000 of the unpaid fines the company currently owes.

A city council spokesman said of its parking policies: "We are very confident that they are legal and enforceable."