Plenty of people have strong opinions about asylum-seekers but few have met any to hear their stories.

One who does almost every day is Paul Ward, a practising immigration lawyer based in Brighton.

The tales he relates today are different from those afraid of having asylum-seekers living on their doorsteps.

Some have had to risk their lives fleeing from real peril in their own countries where democracy is banned and dissent is a dirty word.

Of course there are some bogus claims. The people who make them should be interviewed and not allowed into Britain.

But the majority of asylum-seekers are genuine and many will make a big contribution to this country as others have done in the past.

Some will live on benefit, at least for a while.

Others, the majority, will be only too keen to start new and fruitful lives in a tolerant country away from civil war and oppression.

There is a genuine debate over whether Saltdean in general and the Grand Ocean Hotel in particular are right for the temporary housing of asylum-seekers.

That needs to be decided on what space is available for them and whether Saltdean can support the numbers involved.

What's unwanted is bigotry, prejudice and thinly-veiled racism. It's not true and it's not helpful.