Parking wardens will not be issuing tickets on Christmas Day in Brighton and Hove.

UPDATE: Brighton and Hove City Council told The Argus on Tuesday it would be maintaining parking controls on December 25.

However, at about midday on Thursday, the council's head of communications John Shewell tweeted: "Just been informed that @brightonhovecc is NOT enforcing parking over Xmas. We have suspended it. Something got lost in translation there!"

The rest of the original story follows:

It means action could be taken if drivers without a permit use residents’ parking bays on December 25 or Boxing Day.

Failure to get a ticket in a pay and display bay could also result in a fine.

Parking fines in the city range from between £25 and £70.

Motorists will still have to pay to use the city’s car parks, both council-run and those operated by NCP.

Car parking charges will also be in place in Chichester and the Rother District Council area, including Bexhill, on Christmas Day.

Meanwhile some areas across the county will enjoy free parking at council car parks and no enforcement of on-street parking on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Some councils will even extend the amnesty to Monday December 27 and Tuesday 28.

Parking campaigner Steve Percy branded the decision in Brighton and Hove as a “shame”.

Brighton and Hove City Council environment cabinet member Geoffrey Theobald declined to comment to The Argus on the issue yesterday but a spokesman denied the decision was driven by revenue.

He said: “The purpose of maintaining parking controls is to keep order on the streets and prevent a parking free-for-all.

“That would be dangerous and hold the traffic up. There are councils all over the UK with exactly the same policy.

"Boxing Day and New Year's Day could be busy as we're a top visitor destination. “Christmas Day may well be quiet so fewer are affected anyway. The shops are shut and everyone's indoors."

A spokesman for NSL Ltd, which enforces parking for authorities across the county, declined to comment on whether the wardens’ approach to enforcement would take into account the festive spirit.

He was also unable to say whether traffic wardens would be paid extra money for working on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

The city council will be making some parking concessions to the Christmas period, with Regency Square car park offering three hours of parking for £3 until December 31.

Should Brighton and Hove City Council allow free parking in the city on Christmas Day? Tell us what you think below, by writing to our letters page or emailing letters@theargus.co.uk.

Find out what your council is doing on Christmas Day and Boxing Day in today's Argus.