Thousands of sun-seekers flocked to Sussex over the Bank Holiday weekend to enjoy some of the best weather of the year.

Hotels were forced to turn away many visitors with just three beds reported vacant for the entire town on Sunday night. Along the seafront revellers packed the beach, taking advantage of the good weather.

One young paddler even got stung by a weaver fish - a warm water fish from Morocco not normally seen in UK waters until July. The weekend's hot and sunny weather brought to an end an April beset by torrential rain, floods, unseasonal snow and sleet.

And the good weather was expected to continue over the coming week with temperatures rising to 20 degrees Celsius (68F). Hotel owners reported their busiest weekend of the year. In Brighton , nearly 90,000 beds were snapped up by visitors eager to make the most of the three-day break.

A spokeswoman for Eastbourne tourist information centre said it had also seen a flood of visitors descend on the town. The warm weather also drew out the crowds in Worthing where both the east and west beaches were packed with sunbathing bodies.

Mac Skeet, beach inspector, said: "It has been a really good weekend and, considering the weather we had for the last bank holiday, which was a disaster, then the sun has brought everybody out for this one."

His colleague Tim Smalley added: "I think there are more visitors here than last year simply because of the sun. Everybody is on the beach, playing cricket, flying kites, paddling and some people are even swimming in the sea."

The crew had a 999 call early on Monday morning to rescue a jet skier who had broken down at sea but otherwise declared it a perfect weekend.

Sue Paskins, who runs The Granville Hotel in Kings Road, Brighton, said: "Our hotel has been packed all weekend mostly with late bookers. We had to turn a lot of people away last night and many of our single rooms were taken up by couples.

But there was a note of caution from Roger Marlow, chairman of Brighton and Hove Hotels Association, who said the town could not always rely on a steady stream of visitors.

He said: "It has been absolutely buzzing over the weekend. The only blot on the landscape was the lack of parking. There were great big queues leading out of all the car parks.

The busy weekend was also good news for traders in the town. Pete Avey, who runs Seasiders cafe and gift shop, said: "People ask me what I sell down here and I always reply 'sunshine'."