Joanna Lumley received a hero’s welcome in the heart of Gurkha country yesterday. The remote region of Nepal, renowned for the calibre of its warriors, is now facing an exodus because of the actress.

Hundreds of Gurkha veterans massed in Dharan, a dusty bazaar town a bumpy 45-minute flight southeast from Kathmandu. Some had walked for days to express their adoration for Ms Lumley, who in May won for all ex-Gurkhas the right to settle in Britain if they have served the country for more than four years.

Outside the town hall the clanging of cymbals and beating of tribal drums competed with the yells of photographers. A sea of placards read: “We love Joanna”, “We demand equal pension” and “We admire British public totally”. At one point the actress appeared in danger of being asphyxiated by marigold garlands.

The locals said that they could not remember anything like it. Many felt that the day marked the start of a new era — though not one that everybody is welcoming.

Dharan, the gateway to the eastern hills and overlooked by cloud-shrouded mountains, is one of a handful of Nepalese towns largely built on cash sent home by serving Gurkhas. Locals say that at least half the population of 25,000 have a relative in the British Army, which until 1989 had a recruiting base here.

Many of the town’s best houses were paid for with Gurkha remittances. Still more were funded by money made by British-trained veterans who went on to work as highly paid security guards in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Shopkeepers say that the ex- Gurkhas are Dharan’s biggest spenders. A Gurkha private in the British Army is paid £17,000 a year; the average wage in Nepal is £180.

Now, however, a large part of this affluent community is about to depart — after Ms Lumley helped to win them the right to settle in Britain. As a result, bank managers in Dharan say that they expect remittances to plummet and local newspapers say that property prices are falling.

One of those preparing to leave is Pratap Kumar Rai, 45, who joined the Gurkhas in 1984 and served for four years, 54 days.

He saved about $80,000 (£49,000) during a four-year stint working as a bodyguard in Afghanistan and six months in Iraq. The money, which may otherwise have been invested in Nepal, will be used to build a new life for Mr Rai, his wife and four children in Britain — a country that he has visited only once, for two hours, while changing planes at Heathrow.

“There are many like me,” he told The Times. “I know about 40 or 50 other Gurkhas who are making the same decision.” Some fear that the exodus will change the character of Dharan for ever. “It is their right to go, but it is sad for Nepal,” said Mina Pulami Magar, a social worker.

It is expected that at least a thousand skilled men will leave Nepal, one of the world’s poorest countries, with their families. The $1.1 billion sent home by the Gurkhas and another two million Nepalese working overseas is equivalent to 18 per cent of GDP.

The departure of their former brothers in arms has also met with mixed feelings from those left behind. Many veterans cannot hope to pay the £500 fee charged by the British Government to process an application.

But there is no question of Dharan losing its Gurkha ties altogether. Since 2000, about 25 private training schools have sprouted in the town. They offer boys between the ages of 18 and 21 training, physical and mental, to prepare them for the Gurkhas’ gruelling selection trials. Every year tens of thousands apply but only about 300 are chosen.

Vikram Khanal, 20, was rejected last year when he failed to complete the mandatory 14 chin-ups at the very first stage of selection. His father has spent more than 7,000 Nepalese rupees on training in the hope that he will do better this year. “The condition of my country is not good,” Vikram told The Times. “There are no jobs, no political stability, no peace, no reason for the youth to stay. That’s why we want to be Gurkhas.”

How to make the grade

Stage 1

Around 28,000 young Nepalese men will usually apply for 200-300 places in the British Brigade of Gurkhas. Only 6,000 will be invited to the first stage at selection centres in the Nepalese hills. Applicants must be aged 17-22, at least 5ft 2in (1.57m) and a minimum of 110lb (50kg)

Stage 2

Applicants are tested on English grammar and mathematics for two weeks at a centre in Pokhara, Nepal. They must perform 14 pull-ups as well as successfully complete the infamous doko race, carrying 70lb while running up a steep 5km (3-mile) course within 55 minutes

Stage 3

Successful candidates are taken to Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire, Britain’s largest army base. They have language lessons for three months and are taught British culture as well as undergoing intensive military training

Source: Times database

Times Recommends

• No apology for Germany’s own Nazi victims
• Intricate web of fear and hope tying down deal
• Victims remembered a year after Mumbai attacks