The hotel and catering industry in Sussex is finding the answer to staff shortages by recruiting staff from Europe.

The city's reputation has resulted in hundreds of overseas hopefuls applying for work in its hotels.

The industry employs about 30,000 people in Sussex, with 9,600 in Brighton and Hove.

Unlike previous years when there have been hundreds of vacancies across the county, there are fewer now because the industry in Sussex has lost its seasonal peaks and troughs and the city's reputation is attracting young workers from Europe.

Area human resources manager for Thistle Hotels Jason Fox said the Sussex resorts were not only for holidaymakers and conferences, Brighton and Hove was the one UK resort that had all year-round appeal and that was attracting workers from across Europe who wanted to learn.

He said: "We are getting a lot of applicants from Spain. If it wasn't for the Spanish workers, the hotel and catering businesses in the city would be in trouble.

"I look after recruitment for five hotels in the South and the Brighton Thistle is the easiest to recruit for.

Finding managers is not so easy but for general staff I get about 90 applicants a week. I'm sure if I put a sign in the window there would be a queue within minutes.

"Brighton has a reputation as being a fun place to be and young people come here to combine work with learning English.

"They fit their shifts around tuition."

At the DeVere Grand in Brighton, general manager Richard Baker said with the city's popularity for conferences there was no real down season and recruitment drives prior to the start of the season were not as busy as they once were.

The city's universities and colleges were important sources for hotel staff.

He said: "We are just as busy in the winter as the summer and many of our events and catering staff are students.

"There are more job opportunities in the summer because the hotel's permanent staff want to take their holidays so we need to recruit to cover for them.

"A lot of university students don't bother leaving the town at the end of the academic year because they like it here and there are plenty of jobs.

"That is good for the local economy because the money they earn stays in the city.

"There are a lot of very bright people looking for jobs in the summer.

We have many staff from Europe who just want to work in Brighton and are willing to learn. But it is harder to find people to fill the more senior positions.

"The industry always talks about staff turnover but turnover is no greater in hotels than in most businesses. It is a very staff-intensive industry."

Trade unions have no problem with the overseas recruitment.

Emily Thompson, of the GMB union, said: "As long as employers are not recruiting from Europe to the detriment of UK workers, we are quite happy.

"If they are offering the same terms and conditions, there is no problem.

After all, it is part of what being in the European Union is all about and UK workers can find work abroad with the same ease."