Plans for a research programme helping people working from home have been welcomed.

Horsham District Council is launching a campaign to find out more about the number, nature and needs of Home Based Businesses (HBB) in the town in order to develop policies to assist their economic success and future development.

Suggestions to help shape the research have come from home businesses as varied as booksellers, a Spanish tuition service and stage performers.

One inquiry was from the Women in Business network, which has 40 members in the area, most of whom work from home.

A council spokesman said: "Home Based Business is now seen as a clear benefit to the community because it reduces commuting, uses existing homes more efficiently, is energy efficient, socially benevolent and a major employment sector."

He said the move to HBB had accelerated with the arrival of computer technology in the home.

Internet and video links made home businesses one of the fastest- growing sectors in the UK economy.

In many rural areas, HBB was a vital source of new jobs and a viable alternative to agriculture in sustaining village economies.

The results from the research will be available in the autumn. The council expects to develop its new HBB policies later in the year.

Further information is available from Chris Baister at Horsham District Council on 01403 215542.