Mr Hatton is holding a public meeting in a function room at the town's Clair Hall on June 2 at 7.30pm to discuss the possibility of other dissenters joining him in what he calls a "direct action initiative".

Mr Hatton, managing director of Modular Cabling Systems, said: "It is proposed that members of the public who are willing to participate buy a ticket in the normal way but instead of entering the last three digits of their registration instead enter DAI, for Direct Action Initiative.

"These tickets may be passed on to other shoppers also willing to participate, subject of course to the status of any remaining time left on the ticket.

"The likely result of this scenario is that Mid Sussex District Council will adopt one of the following responses: ignore it, judging that the least publicity, the better, or issue fixed penalty notices to offenders, and this could be many.

"In the event that the council decides to keep a low profile, assuming, wrongly, that this is a one-off demonstration of public feeling, the action will continue to take place every weekend throughout the summer, or until such time as the council proposes a suitable compromise reached within a proper public consultation meeting."

Anyone wishing to discuss the initiative can contact Mr Hatton by email here