The Chinese State Circus says box office staff have been shocked by people asking if performers could be carrying the deadly Sars virus.

Circus operators say the reaction from the public is verging on hysteria.

The popular circus is due to open at Preston Park, Brighton, a week tomorrow and run until May 24 as part of the Brighton Festival Fringe.

Staff say people have called asking if it was safe to visit the circus, whose performers are all Chinese. The Argus also received a letter from a Brighton resident asking why the circus had not been cancelled.

Circus spokesman John Haze said: "This particular troupe has been here for a year.

"The last time they went home was in November and they have not left the country since coming back here in December.

"It's disgraceful for people to want the circus closed.

"Some of the troupe are worried about their families and friends at home. It's deplorable people make comments like this.

"I can understand if they had just flown into the country but they haven't."

Sars - Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - is a flu-like virus thought to have originated in South-East Asia which has killed 264 people worldwide, 110 in China and 16 in Toronto.

The Department of Health said the virus appears to be passed on through close contact with an infected person and is not as contagious as influenza.

There have been six possible cases identified in the UK and no deaths.