Drivers into the West Sussex town of Crawley were told to F*** off by council car park signs yesterday morning - and hardly anyone noticed.

The signs normally say how many spaces are free in each car park, but were defaced by a hacker who broke into their control system at around 6.45am, substituting the rude message and a tag promoting the US totse.com forum.

The messages were on display for more than two hours before council officers told the company which maintains the system - German-owned signage specialist Dambach - to remove them.

The computer system has now been locked down and will have its operating system upgraded, according to a council spokesman.

"We have no idea why Crawley was picked on," he added. "Only two members of the public reported it - I even drove past one of the signs myself without noticing it."

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