Warden row turns Eastbourne into parking free-for-all

Eastbourne has been a civilised place, an Edwardian resort where the middle classes spend their retirement and families enjoy happy days by the seaside.

Have your say: Would you like a parking free-for-all in your town?

Leader: Parking liberation front

Now it is even more agreeable after its traffic wardens were stripped of the power to issue parking fines.

	No meters or wardens: until the dispute over parking is resolved, drivers in Eastbourne are able to park anywhere for free

Thanks to a wrangle between the county and borough councils, parking in the East Sussex town is absolutely free.

Visitors and residents can park just about anywhere at any time for as long as they want.

All the hapless traffic wardens can do is issue a warning notice, but there will be no fine, no clampers and definitely no tow trucks.

"It's wonderful," said Camilla Francombe, 56, who has run her second-hand bookstore for more than 30 years in Grove Road. "Bookshops are notorious for getting people tickets.

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