Yesterday, after a three-month drive around the country, the French women were sitting in their dusty four-wheel drive, hoping to find a new owner.

''We bought the car here, so now we are finished, we try to sell it here,'' Ms Nanot, 26, said.

But a state government commitment, announced yesterday, will stop the practice, which Potts Point residents say has turned the street into a car yard and camping ground.

The O'Farrell government will support a bill by Sydney MP Clover Moore to give the City of Sydney the right to erect signs prohibiting the sale of vehicles in streets it deems inappropriate, following a long campaign by locals.

Cafe owner Tim Petersen, part of the local ''Clean Up Victoria Street'' campaign, said in summer there were up to 70 vans and cars parked at a time for sale, with their owners camping out in them, sometimes leaving rubbish or using the street as a toilet. Vendors risk fines or towing if they don't move their vehicles.

Ms Moore, who is also lord mayor of Sydney, said the council would provide an alternative selling point to ensure the trade did not simply drift to neighbouring streets.

''The city's opening a market in nearby Kings Cross which will provide an opportunity for those backpackers to safely, and in a supervised situation, sell their vehicles,'' she said.

The market will open next month and be free to use for the first three months, before a fee is introduced.

The Local Government Minister, Don Page, said he was compelled to support the bill after meeting frustrated locals, but said he was pleased backpackers would still be able to sell their cars locally.

''It is important to note that these visitors would not have wanted to be a burden,'' he said.

The bill amends the Local Government Act and so far only applied to the City of Sydney, but other councils could apply to follow suit, he said.