Stray dogs in Sussex could be put down because others from outside the county are filling places at a dogs' home.

Councils have struggled to find places for strays at the Dogs Trust's rehoming centre in Shoreham since the trust began accepting animals from all over the UK.

Up to 35 per cent of its current occupants come from outside Sussex.

Some have been brought to Shoreham from as far away as Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The North of England has a much bigger problem with stray dogs than the South and the trust, formerly the National Canine Defence League, has started redistributing the nation's strays between its 15 centres.

One council says recent difficulties in rehoming the dogs has forced it to consider destroying unclaimed strays rather than spending taxpayers' money on costly kennel fees.

And the pressure on councils is likely to grow under a new law ending the police's responsibility to look after strays handed in to them.

Local authorities have a legal duty to look after strays for seven days. Councils usually have contracts with nearby kennels to care for them.

If a dog is still unclaimed after a week it is up to the council to find a method of disposing of it.

The preferred choice of Lewes District Council and Brighton and Hove City Council is to pass the strays on to the Dogs Trust centre in Shoreham, which has a good reputation for caring for dogs and finding them new owners.

But Lee Money, principal environmental health officer for Lewes Council, said it was becoming increasingly difficult to find places at the centre.

He said: "The problem now is that kennels are full of Northern dogs. We had seven dogs earlier this summer but we were told there was no space for them. Brighton is in the same position. We have had to hang on to dogs beyond the seven days because the trust has adopted a different policy on rehousing.

"If you can't rehome dogs you have to do something with them and you have to look at destruction. It's on a knife edge at the moment. When the Dogs' Trust sadly isn't able to take dogs any more we have a problem. It seems crazy we are having an issue with Sussex dogs when they are bringing in dogs from other parts of the country."

His concerns were echoed by an animal welfare officer at Brighton and Hove City Council. But while Brighton and Hove has a policy that healthy dogs will not be destroyed, dogs picked up by Lewes enjoy no such guarantees.

Mr Money said the council had recently come close to destroying a dog which had been in its care for nearly three weeks. It was saved when a home was found at the 11th hour.

He said: "We might have to destroy dogs because we can't afford to keep them."

Dianne Porter, manager of the Shoreham centre, said: "The number of stray dogs in the North and other parts of country is greater than those in the South, so we do have a number of dogs transferred to us.

"But local authorities from the area around Shoreham who bring us unclaimed stray and abandoned dogs will always have first priority.

"The Dogs Trust will never destroy a healthy dog in our care."