Managers of a seafront hotel near Brighton say it will never be used to house asylum seekers.

Staff at the Grand Ocean Hotel in Saltdean said they had never been asked by the Home Office to provide temporary accommodation for asylum seekers.

They said the hotel did not have suitable facilities to provide such a service and any future government request for it to do so would be refused.

Marco Pasquale, chief executive of the Grand Ocean Hotel Group, yesterday said asylum seekers would be allowed into the hotel "over my dead body".

He said: "We have never and we will never take asylum seekers. The Home Office has never even approached us on this issue to ask if we would consider it."

Mr Pasquale said the hotel was not for sale and no approaches had been made to buy it and change it into a so-called induction centre for newly-arrived asylum seekers.

His comments were echoed in a statement from the hotel's general manager David Regan, which read: "I would like to confirm the hotel has never made any application to use the hotel as an asylum seekers' home and has never applied for a licence.

"Our employees are very well motivated but feel let down by recent events. We do not have suitable facilities to provide such a service and we would not take any business that would not fit in with our normal business.

"We are already 75 per cent full for this season and attracting people to the area benefits the local traders, all of whom are welcome to use our facilities.

"I would like to reiterate, we have never had this type of business and do not intend to house such visitors in the future."

The National Asylum Support Service (NASS) put out a tender stating it was looking for suitable property last year. Harrow-based property company Leena Homes approached the Home Office, suggesting it could block-book bedrooms at the hotel.

Brighton and Hove City Council were then notified of the suggestion by the Home Office but Mr Pasquale said he was never told of the negotiations.

He said: "The name Leena Homes only rings a bell with me because I read it in reports in The Argus. They have certainly never approached the hotel."

The Home Office denied it was in negotiations with Leena Homes when confronted by The Argus in November last year. In January, we exclusively revealed the hotel was to be used, with the Home Office blaming a "clerical error" for the previous announcement.

Yesterday, the Home Office refused to discuss details of any dealings it has had with property companies about the hotel.

A spokeswoman said: "We have not signed any contract on this hotel. We would only do so after extensive consultation with the council and members of the public. We are not currently doing this."

The council is still in negotiations with NASS and the Home Office about the department's handling of the issue.