Homeless people and drug addicts could be prevented from moving to Brighton and Hove in a bid to reduce the strain on services.

Instead of benefiting from drug and alcohol dependency services, day centres and support agencies, they could be told to go back where they came from.

The possible joint strategy was discussed at the annual meeting of Brighton Housing Trust with representatives of Brighton and Hove Council and the police.

It is one of several ideas aimed at reducing the financial burden of homelessness in the city.

Jenny Backwell, the director of Brighton Housing Trust - which provides about 350 flats to homeless people and offers them support - said: "We have people from all over the place who make demands on drug and mental health services and we can't cope. "People become resentful and say, 'We are paying for all these people from elsewhere'.

"We are taking people from Hull, where rents are £20 a week, and housing them where rents are £220 a week.

"We have to evaluate if we have a responsibility for these people. There is no shortage of housing in this country - there are about one million surplus council houses.

"For years Brighton and Hove has been full and there's a physical problem of not having space to allocate."

She added: "The reasons people tell me they come here is because 'Slough is a dump' or 'I got chased out of Hull'.

"Most don't have positive reasons for coming to Brighton apart from it being a tolerant place with an exceptional range of services."

Mrs Backwell's colleague Andy Winter said it was necessary to take care in the way the new strategy was presented.

He said: "We seem to have people in this city who are classed as good and bad migrants.

"We offer open arms to the beautiful people like Zoe Ball. It's the Place to Be, as we keep being reminded. But the moment we say we are full up we will be accused of all sorts of things.

"We have a duty to work in the interests of vulnerable people.

"I get phone calls all the time from people saying they've heard we have good drug and alcohol services. But I tell them not to come here because we have no accommodation."

With Brighton and Hove's booming property market pushing private tenants out of their homes, the council's chief executive Glynn Jones called for drastic changes to the housing benefit system, which he labelled "crazy".

He said because private landlords could charge more than the top rate of housing benefit available, many people could not afford to stay in the private sector.

Sussex Chief Constable Paul Whitehouse said resources needed to be better spent.

He said: "Because we are not spending enough on housing, people are getting sick and we are having to spend more money on health.

"A stitch in time saves nine should be a phrase that should be on the tip of the tongue of every Government minister and every senior civil servant."

Chairman Simon Fanshawe said people in the city who were not well off were forced in to an even less prosperous position as wealthy people moved in.

He said: "We need to find new ways to create property deals to help them."

Locking up drug addicts and dealers is not halting the growing trade in illegal substances, according to Mr Whitehouse.

He also said educating people against drug misuse would not curb the number of addicts and dealers.

Mr Whitehouse said: "There is no evidence that if we lock up drug addicts that more will not come along. Unfortunately I do not have a solution to this, although I wish I did.

"We need a complete package from national Government downward to help us tackle this one."

The Chief Constable's comments followed news that East Sussex Brighton and Hove Health Authority had secured £750,000 to spend on drug treatment services.