Parking tickets issued in Brighton and Hove have increased

More than 161,000 fixed penalty fines were given out last year, says the National Parking Adjudication Service.

The fines raised �5.2m in income, much of which found its way back to Brighton and Hove City Council.

The council took over parking three years ago and contracted out parking to National Car Parks (NCP).

You've either got to create more spaces or get rid of the cars Steve Percy, People's Parking Protest

The number of tickets issued by parking wardens compares with 100,730 in the previous 12 months.

Senior parking attendant Linda Earle said the high number of tickets issued in the city showed there were a high number of offenders.

The council says its attendants are not given a quota of tickets to meet each day, there are no incentives and they are not on commission.

It says the number of appeals it has are fewer than other cities of a similar size.

Protest groups blame the way parking bays and residential permits are allocated in the city for the rise in drivers receiving tickets.

"You've either got to create more spaces or get rid of the cars, so if you want to create more spaces, more car parks is the only way - you've got to go up," said Steve Percy, of the People's Parking Protest.

Although the income raised from the fines helps to improve transport facilities in Brighton and Hove, residents say they sometimes have no alternative but to park illegally.