An occupational therapy service for children with special needs has been forced to stop taking on new patients because of a lack of resources.

South Downs Health NHS Trust is no longer taking referrals for children with mild problems as it cannot guarantee how long they will have to wait for assessment.

Children classed as high or medium priority cases, such as those with physical disabilities or who are under five and have developmental problems, will still be accepted.

The unit deals with people living in the Brighton, Hove and Lewes area up to the age of 19.

Parents of children classed as a low priority, which are generally those aged over five with co-ordination problems, are being told they will not be put on to the unit's waiting list.

Head of the unit Bridget Morden said the decision was not taken lightly but was necessary because there were neither the resouirces nor staff to deal with the demand.

She said: "They would have been placed on the waiting list but because children classed as high or medium cases are given priority, it would have been a very long time before we could get to them.

"The list was getting longer and longer and following an audit on the service, we realised we had no choice but to take this action if we were going to get anywhere near to reducing waiting times."

The unit has increased in popularity in recent years as more people become aware of the benefits of occupational therapy and demand is constantly growing.

As fast as children are coming off the waiting list, which currently stands at 162, more high and medium priority cases are being referred to it.

The average wait for some cases is nearly three years, but the trust tries to see high priority cases within 12 weeks. It hopes to bring all waiting times down to a maximum 12 weeks but expects that to take at least three years.