Illegal dumping of waste oil from ships is killing hundreds of sea birds along the Sussex shoreline.

Experts have blamed ships which jettison fuel for poisoning many birds.

In one two-day period, wildlife ambulance workers rescued 30 guillemots and they had to act fast as fewer than one per cent of oiled birds pull through.

Rachel Creffield who runs the wildlife hospital at Patcham said: "The bad weather brings the birds into shore or there may have been an oil slick near the coast. We've had a lot of birds come in and I think there might be a spillage somewhere.

"The oil burns their skin especially where there are no feathers like their beak and their eyes. Once oil gets into their feathers it destroys their waterproofing so they sink. Even if a bird survives the cold and doesn't drown, when they are trying to preen their feathers to get rid of the oil, they poison themselves and suffer a slow and hideous death.

"It's important that people don't try and wash them because the stress could kill them and if re-released, their chances of survival are nothing. They need special care so put it in a box, call us out and we'll collect it."

The dangers for seabirds which arise from ships illegally dumping their waste oil are a growing worry.

Much of the blame is fired at the shipping industry. Andrew South of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds' south east office said: "Ships wash out their tanks illegally over the Christmas and New Year period, when unscrupulous ship owners think they can get away with it and it has an insidious effect on the sea bird population. The south coast has the highest percentage of oil pollution in the UK and it is no coincidence that this coastline is adjacent to one of the busiest shipping channels in the world.

"We would like to see much bigger fines for this kind of activity but the chances of catching one of these boats and photographing them is rare. Some ships do not take enough care with waste oil and others deliberately dump it in the sea rather than spend time or money doing so safely in port."

Andy Nickoll, counter pollution officer for the Maritime and Coastgurard agency, said: "Dumping is illegal and should not be a problem at any time of the year. There is a perceived increase over the holiday periods because the ports tend to close down."

The agency can impose fines up to £20,000 to prevent ships from dumping but says detection is difficult because illegal dumps usually take place at night.

The annual Beached Bird Survey which takes place in February invites volunteers to scour the beaches to record any washed up dead or sick birds and help to collect evidence of oil dumping.