Town residents get free parking after wardens are stripped of power to issue fines

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But for the residents of Eastbourne, it has become a reality thanks to a wrangle between the county and borough councils.

Their dispute has led to parking across the seaside resort being absolutely free and traffic wardens stripped of their power to issue penalties.

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The seaside town of Eastbourne has stripped its traffic wardens of the power to issue tickets

All wardens can do is dole out a warning notice but effectively, anyone is allowed to park anywhere for as long as they like.

Residents and businesses are unsurprisingly absolutely delighted at the unlikely bonus.

Camilla Francombe, 56, who runs a second-hand bookstore, told the Telegraph: "Bookshops are notorious for getting people tickets.

"They come in for two minutes and end up there for an hour. Now they can park here with impunity."

Free parking starting last October as a result of a dispute between the Liberal Democrat-run Eastbourne Council and the Tory-controlled East Sussex county council.

County councillors wanted to put in new parking meters on the seafront, spending £200,000 installing them and employing wardens.

The town council disagreed with the scheme and used a legal loophole which meant it had to be suspended.

A compulsory public consultation and other legal formalities must now be completed before the system can be launched.

This is not expected to happen until at least October, with residents and visitors enjoying months of free parking in the meantime.

David Tutt, leader of Eastbourne council, said: "The town is a low-wage, high-cost place economy and if the county council pressed ahead with this, many businesses would have gone to the wall.

"There has been no anarchy and the town has not ground to a halt. I believe our stand is a victory for the motorist and for common sense."

It is not all good news for the taxpayer, however.

Because the stand-off came too late for the county council to pull out of a deal with contractors NCP, the public purse is paying £200,000 for seven people to patrol the seafront.

And by the time all the costs are totted up, they will have paid around £500,000 for the new parking scheme.

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