THE Sussex seaside in early spring can be an empty place.

Hotels, B&Bs, guest houses and holiday camps all put up vacancy signs while they prepare for the summer rush.

What better time and place, one might ask, to house some of the 500,000 refugees forced from the killing fields of Kosovo by Serb soldiers since the war started three weeks ago?

Towns like Eastbourne, Brighton, Worthing and Hastings could soon be a temporary haven to many, according to Eastbourne MP Nigel Waterson.

But Mr Waterson warns the impact on social services, housing and healthcare could have disastrous effects on his and other constituencies.

Mr Waterson said: "I'm worried there will be a huge influx and that the Government will see seaside towns as an easy option for housing hundreds, if not thousands, for a considerable time.

"Resorts in Sussex would be an obvious choice for them to make."

Mr Waterson has already tabled a question in the House of Commons on the Asylum and Immigration Bill, currently going through Parliament.

If it gets on to the statute book, the Government will have the power to earmark specific towns to put up asylum seekers.

Some Sussex towns, like Eastbourne and Hastings, already house hundreds who have escaped other humanitarian crises around the world.

Mr Waterson said: "My fear is that ministers will use this new power to impose refugees without taking into account the fact that councils cannot cope with the extra pressure."

Eastbourne Borough Council has not been approached by the Government but a spokesman said: "Kosovo is an international humanitarian disaster.

"If approached we will look to help the refugees in whatever way we can with the resources we have available."

But Mr Waterson fears the Government does not give local authorities enough detail on the numbers and needs of asylum seekers they have to cope with.

The lack of resources in camps beyond the Kosovan border has led to criticism of Nato member governments.

They have even been blamed in some quarters for accelerating Serb ethnic cleansing, through their bombing raids, and then failing to provide for the exodus.

Hundreds of thousands may have to be put up in EU countries until the crisis ends.

Brighton Kemp Town MP Des Turner thinks it unlikely that large numbers of refugees will come to Sussex, but still feels it is the responsibility of rich countries to offer help.

He said: "If we are actually going to carry through our humanitarian mission, people will have to put up with some problems to carry it through.

"I don't know quite what Mr Waterson is saying is going to happen if some refugees come to Sussex.

"I can't remember any real problems when we've looked after Somalian, Sudanese and East Africans in the past."

The main thrust of Nato policy is to keep the Albanian Kosovans as near to their homeland as possible in the hope of a speedy return.

Mr Waterson agrees with this, saying: "In the long run these people are going to be happier if they can return to their homes."

Since Easter, Brighton Pavilion MP David Lepper, has spoken to Home Office ministers on the possible effects of the Asylum and Immigration Bill.

Mr Lepper said: "Everything I've heard so far suggests the idea of large numbers coming here is way down the list of Government thinking.

"It would want to make sure there are good support services in place if refugees were to come here.

"The last thing the Government wants to do is dump people in the middle of a strange town in a strange country where people speak a different language and have alien customs."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.