Cyclists are repeatedly flouting the rules on riding their bikes on the seafront leading to confrontations with pedestrians.

A Sussex Police officer patrolling Hove seafront said the biggest cause of complaints in the area was cycling along King’s Esplanade and Western Esplanade, despite a large number of signposts indicating the no cycling area.

Local byelaws state that cyclists should stick to the cycle path running along Kingsway as bikes are banned from the seafront promenade.

Writing on his blog, PCSO Nick Packham said that on one morning patrol he encountered four pedestrians complaining about cyclists and had to speak to 12 cyclists who were oblivious the fact that they were breaking the rules.

Conservative ward councillor Brian Oxley agreed there was a problem but didn’t think changing the seafront layout was the solution.

He said: “There’s an important safety issue because if a cyclist did go into someone there, it could be quite a serious incident.

“There is a perfectly usable cycle lane in that area and cyclists should use it.

“I don’t think moving the cycle lane is the answer, people are not coming to me saying we need to do something different but we need to enforce the current system.”