A seaside resort has hit out at news of vagrants being sent to their quiet town for holidays.

Pevensey Bay, near Eastbourne, is one of a handful of seaside towns chosen as locations for free holidays for homeless people.

Recipients enjoy free food and wine, and trips to the theatre thanks to a charity funded by the National Lottery.

Rough sleepers are given their own bedrooms with colour television and stereo system, and get chocolates when they arrive at their holiday homes.

The initiative is being run by Waterloo Break Away, which hopes to give the homeless a feeling of self worth and present an alternative to life on the streets.

But the scheme has not been welcomed by people in Pevensey Bay.

Council officials insist they know nothing of the scheme and say they are furious at being "left in the dark".

Parish councillor Carol Clark said: "I do feel that this sort of thing fails to tackle the problem. If these people really want to change the way they live their lives then they should be put on a housing scheme, not sent to the seaside to be pampered for a couple of days.

Mrs Clark, 52, has lived in the town for 25 years and used to go on holidays there as a child.

She added: "I have not heard where they are. I would have hoped that the council would have been told but it seems we are in the dark over it."

Another parish councillor, Ruth Hamsford, 53, said: "The whole thing seems a waste of money. A short break in Pevensey Bay with a few luxuries is obviously not what these people need.

"We have seen nothing of these sorts of people in the town. It may be that they are behaving as good as gold or that they are not venturing into the town."

Pat McCrombie, 53, landlady of the Castle Inn, said the town had suffered problems in recent months with an influx of refugees.

She said: "Our caravan park seemed to be overrun with Eastern Europeans for a while when they had nowhere to put them nearby.

"It's what they do after they have been pampered which concerns me. I am not happy at all and as usual it looks like the decent people who live here are the last to know."

Project manager Peter Kerse said the trips had helped about 1,000 people already.

Those lucky enough to go on the trips get clean clothes if they need them and are encouraged to have hot showers and eat well.

He said: "We cannot really stop drinkers from drinking on these trips so we encourage them to eat well and treat themselves well."

"We want to give them back a bit of self respect. We want to humanise people again.

"The problem with so many of the homeless is that they have lost any sense of self worth. They have become antisocial and we want to do our bit to change that."