A group of exiles from the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia were tonight swapping hotel suites in Sussex for life on the streets.

West Sussex County County Council has spent about £500,000 paying for more than 50 islanders to stay at a hotel in Crawley.

The High Court ordered the council to pay for their accommodation for six months but that time has now lapsed.

The refugees, all British citizens, are now classed as "habitually resident".

They will have to fund themselves and find their own places to live while they apply for residency.

The refugees had to move to Mauritius in the late Sixties and early Seventies when American authorities took over their island to build a military base.

Unemployment prompted them to travel to Britain to fight for a return to their island home.

When they arrived in July, they camped out at Gatwick.

Gabriel Valentin, 46, said: "It's a sad day and I can't quite believe it's happening. Where are we going to sleep?

"Even though we have British passports we are being told to go back."

Last week the council's leader wrote to Tony Blair demanding £500,000 to cover the cost of sheltering the exiled islanders.

A council spokesperson said: "We have been doing as much as we can to help. We have given them plenty of notice they had to leave."