A group of Buddhists have released £2,000 of crabs and lobsters into the sea as part of a religious ceremony - but now the newcomers are killing native species.

Crustaceans from North America have been found in the waters off Brighton, which could threaten the sealife that lives in the area.

The discovery of Canadian lobsters and Dungeness crabs was first announced by the Marine Management Organisation last week.

Ceremony: A Buddhist group has released crabs and lobsters into Brighton marina; pictured is a similar ritual carried out in the US in 2012

Officials warned that if anyone has released them into the waters, they could face criminal prosecution for disrupting the eco-system.

Now it has emerged that a religious group, believed to be Buddhist, bought 200 lobsters and crabs from local fishmongers as part of an 'animal release' ritual.

Around 120 people hired three fishing boats and threw the crustaceans into Brighton Marina to stop them being eaten.

A fishmonger from Brighton and Newhaven Fish Sales said that the group had brought 100kg of local crabs and 70kg of spider crabs - which are both native species.

He said that they must also have visited another trader to buy the Canadian lobsters and Dungeness crabs ahead of the ceremony.

Invasion: Non-native lobsters similar to this one are now threatening native sealife off the Sussex coast

Danger: The Dungeness crab, pictured, is native to Washington state in the US

'We had a character come in wanting to buy native lobsters and spider crabs which he wanted to return to the sea,' the fishmonger said.

'It also appears a number of Canadian lobsters and Dungeness crabs may have been bought from someone else and also released.

'It seems they then took them down to Brighton Marina, chartered a fishing boat, took them out to sea and dropped them over the side.

'There is no problem at all with releasing native lobsters and crab back into the wild as long as you take the rubber bands off their claws, but non-native species can be a real issue.

'We have been having a lot of conversations with the Marine Management Organisation about this.'

David Ross, who owns the firm from which the group hired their boats, said: 'They booked three boats then turned up with a whole load of lobsters and crabs.

'Then they had a ceremony as they released them. They were quite flamboyant and caused quite a stir because there were 120 of them.'

Affected: Brighton Marina, pictured, hosted a ceremony held by a Buddhist group recently

The MMO said that officials were investigating the circumstances of the animals' release.

In a statement, the organisation said: 'A small number of fishermen on the Sussex coast are reporting catches of non-native lobsters (Canadian Homarus americanus) and crabs (Metacarcinus magister).

'Under no circumstances should any non-native species be released back into the sea as release could impact native species and constitute an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.'

Anyone who finds the foreign crustaceans is urged to contact the MMO - but they are legally allowed to eat or sell them instead.

Lobsters are native to several parts of North America, while Dungeness crabs are named after Dungeness, a port town in the American state of Washington.

A spokesman for the Brighton Buddhist Centre said the group was not involved with the incident, but added: 'I'm with the lobsters.'

Animal release, also known as 'fang sheng', is a Buddhist tradition which involves saving animals from ending up as food by returning them to the wild.

The practice dates back nearly 2,000 years, but has become controversial recently because it upsets the ecological balance of natural habitats.