A clinic for drug addicts and alcoholics is struggling to cope because more people needing help are moving into the area.

The substance misuse service run by South Downs Health NHS Trust in Brighton says a large number of recently-arrived addicts are asking for immediate support.

The clinic says people are coming into the area because the service has a waiting list of only four weeks while in other parts of England and Wales it is up to a year.

The influx of new arrivals means local people are being forced to wait for treatment while staff cope with demand.

The service has now launched a three-month pilot scheme aimed at making sure local people get speedy access to the treatment they need. Under the new scheme people will only be given a first appointment when they have lived in the area for three months.

Senior nurse and service manager Chris Hughes said: "It seems that drug users are coming to Brighton from other areas because there are very long waiting times for treatment elsewhere in the county.

"We thought it was fairer on local residents to give them priority instead.

"It is only a pilot scheme and we are waiting to see how well it will work. If it causes too many problems then we'll have to think of something else."

Addaction and local GPs are being told about the pilot.