New arrivals in Sussex are looking to Eastbourne rather than Brighton and Hove.

High house prices and the cost of living are forcing wannabe residents further along the coast to Eastbourne, which is fast shedding its image as a resort for the elderly.

New figures show that while people continue to be drawn to the bright lights of Brighton to set up home, the numbers are slowly falling.

A list of the top 10 places in the country to live puts Brighton and Hove and East Sussex at number eight, with 5,300 moving to the area in one year alone.

The most popular area was Lincolnshire with 9,000 new residents followed by Cornwall with 7,400 and Norfolk with 7,000.

Lambeth was at the bottom of the popularity list having lost 19,100 residents.

Ken Bodfish, leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, said: "Estate agents are telling us that some 50 per cent of their sales are to people moving into the area and the demand to live in Brighton is inexhaustible.

"We are by the sea and the South Downs. It is a fantastic place to live and spend time and, of course, we are close to London as well."

However, he said the demand to live in Brighton and Hove - which has a population of nearly 250,000 people - put pressure on housing.

Luke Morling, of Avard estate agents in Ditchling Road, Brighton, said people planning a move to East Sussex were now looking at alternatives, such as Eastbourne, which has a population of about 90,000 and boasts a thriving marina at Sovereign Harbour and is easily commutable to London.

East Sussex County Council deputy leader Councillor Daphne Bagshawe said: "I am not surprised that so many people want to move since it is an attractive area."

Joe Clease, an economic researcher at Sussex Enterprise, said: "If people who work in Brighton can't afford to buy a house in the city they are presumably going along the coast which increases pressure on the already busy A27 running into the city."

Figures on population migration were compiled by the Office for National Statistics, based on patient registers over 12 months to the middle of last year.