Businesses in Sussex are being urged not to make rash decisions because of the war against terrorism.

Although some firms need to take immediate action in order to stay in business, most should be thinking of the long-term and not cutting back on staff and production in a knee jerk reaction to the latest events.

Since the terrorist attacks in the United States, a number of Sussex firms have announced job cuts, including airlines British Airways and Virgin Atlantic and holiday firms First Choice and Panorama.

Head of research at Sussex Enterprise Mark Froud said: "These firms have had to make cuts because they have seen an immediate affect on their businesses.

"We are telling businesses to concentrate on long-term business and hold off on job cuts until they have a clearer idea of what is happening."

Before the terrorist attacks there had been a lot of talk about a recession, even though the evidence showed otherwise, and the latest developments should not have a serious affect on the Sussex economy.

A report from the CBI says confidence in the financial services sector was now at a three year low but Mr Froud said the bad news is overshadowing the good news.

He said: "It is very easy for people to talk a slowdown into a recession.

"We recognise some businesses have no choice but the Sussex economy is doing well and will continue to expand if people continue to trade as near to normally as possible.

"Of course, we are not immune to the effects of the tragic events that have damaged every economy across the world and we have revised growth figures for the Sussex economy down from a steady 2.5 per cent to a more realistic 1.5 to two per cent.

"The Sussex economy is still outperforming the rest of the UK."

Even with the high number of people put out of work in the past three weeks, Mr Froud believes many will be able to find new jobs in the county.

He said: "It may mean retraining but there are jobs around.

"There is a serious skills shortage in the county and in the South-East."

Mr Froud said the next few months would be critical for the world economy but the long-term outlook was for growth.