Two people were kicked out of the Hastings Direct tennis tournament at Eastbourne as part of a police clampdown on the use of video cameras.

There had been concerns before the annual women's contest about video being taken of youngsters, in particular ball boys and girls.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said particular attention was paid to visitors with video cameras in light of child protection issues.

He said: "We get officers on duty throughout the tournament and are aware of the many people using cameras for capturing players and their families and other purposes. A number of people were stopped and spoken to by police.

"Two men had their tickets taken away from them and were asked to leave by tournament officials." No arrests were made.

Figures from Eastbourne Borough Council, which organises the week-long event, show a rise in the number of visitors from 32,483 in 2002 to 32,579 this year.

Apart from the video camera issue, the only other major problem was a hoax phone call on the last day, leading to the evacuation of spectators and delaying the finals for two hours.

Ron Cussons, director of tourism, said: "It was a fantastic tournament with the best player field for many a year. The sun was very kind to us so we didn't lose any time. It's the ideal setting and was definitely the place to be last week."

Mr Cussons said despite the security threat no one had asked for their money back or complained about the disruption.

He said changes had been made to ticket prices and more Pimms and strawberries had been brought in for visitors with a taste for finer refreshments.

Between 200lb and 400lb of strawberries were delivered each day for the tournament and a staff of 200 drafted in to work in kiosks and as stewards.

And hoteliers along the seafront say many guests have already booked for next year.

Tennis week marks the start of summer events for the town, which includes Airbourne in August and Skate 2003.