PROMENADE traders were left shaking their heads in amazement when a new speed camera was planted almost in the middle of the pavement.

But they were angered when one of them put a signboard in front of it and this was confiscated by the council for causing an obstruction.

"If the sign's an obstruction, what about the camera?" said Phillip Hay, who sells mobile phones from a kiosk next to new safety device.

The council responded that the camera was in the right place and the sign board was an illegal obstruction.

Mr Hay said that the council had told him it would cost £77 to get his A-board back.

"If I get it back what do they think I am going to do with it? Are they doing it to get rid of an obstruction or get £77?"

He said his sign went the day before the illuminations were switched on.

"The following day they came for an illuminations donation. They have had a donation as far as I am concerned."

The council removing boards from the pavement has become an occupational hazard over the years.

"Has someone got an A-board fetish in the council or what?" asked Graham Scott of Scottie's Got It gift shop. "Do they get up in the morning thinking about A-boards?"

"Their argument is that blind people and people in wheel chairs have problems. Are you telling me a blind person can distinguish an A-board from that monstrosity of a camera?"

A council spokeswoman said: "A speed camera is a legitimate piece of street furniture and therefore the council would accept liability in an incident involving it.

"A-boards are an illegal obstruction and we would not be liable for any accident that arose from their positioning."

She said traders had been served a number of notices to that effect and insisted that the camera had been placed in the correct position.