Mary Joyce is hoping Christmas will sail by. The 33-year-old could be spending the festive season on her own in a hotel room, thousands of miles away from her two sons.

She is one of about 100 British passport holders from the Indian Ocean Island of Diego Garcia who have come to Crawley to seek a better way of life.

The islanders were given British passports as a pay-off when they were deported to Mauritius to make way for an American missile base on their island 30 years ago.

Mary is hoping to eventually bring her sons Pascal, two, and Judelay, 16, to live with her.

She said: "I miss them a lot. It will be very difficult over Christmas as it is the first time I have been away from my family.

"I must work very hard so my children can join me, hopefully some time next year."

Mary works ten hours a day as a cleaner in Crawley but she wants to get a second job and increase that to 15 hours.

She is one of a number of islanders who arrived in Crawley this year after growing exasperated with life in Mauritius.

Some of the exiles have been campaigning for cash from the British government because they say they were deported to Mauritius with little in the way of compensation.

They also want to be repatriated to their homeland.

Their arrival in the UK has caused a row between West Sussex County Council, which has so far spent £500,000 housing and feeding the islanders.

Council officers believe the Government should stump up the cash to support the exiles as the council has no room in its budget to support them.

A spokeswoman said: "It costs about £1,000 per person per month to support them.

"This has put intolerable financial pressure on the council.

"There is no provision in the social and caring services budget for these groups, so other services are suffering as a result."

As it stands, the council must support each group, as they arrive, for a period of six months.

The islanders are then entitled to claim state benefits, although most, like Mary, want to work and go on to find jobs.

Allen Vincatassin, 33, is the governor of the Council of Diego Garcia.

He came to Crawley in September last year with his wife and brother.

He said: "Mauritius is very poor and we have a much better chance of getting a job here.

"We are prepared to work hard. I have left family in Mauritius but I'm hoping to be with them again soon. We want to return to our homeland.

"The council has so far been very supportive of our people and I would like to thank them for that.

"However, it has been a big strain on the budget and it should be the Government which is meeting the bills."

In September, The Argus reported how a group of 15 islanders initially slept rough on the streets of London, following a six-month stay in hotels in Crawley, to protest against the lack of action by the Government.

However, a group of 30 who arrived in July have taken the council to court to try to get more support for longer.

While the council wait for a judge's decision, it has to carry on supporting the group, even though they have been here six months and would now normally be able to claim benefits.

However, Mary was not part of the group and is set to be moved out of her Crawley hotel room just three days before Christmas.

She said: "I'm hoping to move out sooner but it all depends if I get paid on time."

Mary, who earns £5.50 per hour, said she is being treated better in England than in Mauritius.

She said: "Life is very hard in Mauritius and our people are discriminated against.

"People are very nice to me here, although it's not nice living in a hotel."