FEMALE workers in parts of Sussex are getting paid 20 per cent less than men, new figures have revealed.

Women working in Wealden are earning considerably less than men while female workers in Lewes, Hastings and Bexhill are also hugely out-of-pocket.

The areas contrast sharply with Eastbourne and parts of Brighton where female workers are actually earning more on average than their male counterparts.

Local MPs have described the gender pay gap as unacceptable and said they hoped the new Government reforms would help to bring about wage equality for men and women.

New measures unveiled by equalities minister Nicky Morgan earlier this month mean that companies failing to address the gender pay gap will be named and shamed in league tables.

Firms with more than 250 employees will be forced by law to publish what they pay male and female employees.

Figures released to coincide with the initiative, show that female workers receive 20 per cent less in average hourly wage for full-time work in the Wealden constituency, 14.7 per cent in Hastings and Rye, 13.5 per cent in Bexhill and Battle and 12.7 per cent in Lewes.

In the Brighton Kemptown constituency women earn on average 3.5 per cent more while in Eastbourne they earn 7.4 per cent more.

Employment law caseworker Matthew Grant, from Sussex solicitors Martin Searle, said that women earned better pay in Eastbourne because the District General Hospital was the biggest employer and the majority of employees are women.

Brighton Kemptown’s higher female pay is attributed to the area’s younger population with women tending to outperform men in pay up to the age of 30 while the city’s flourishing digital media and marketing was considered a factor.

Unfortunately Mr Grant said Hastings, Bexhill, Wealden and ?Lewes more typically matched the rest of the country where women are on average paid less.

Wealden MP Nus Ghani said her constituency's gender pay gap was unacceptable.

She said: “I have written to our local chambers of commerce and hope to work closely with them to raise awareness of this shocking statistic and to tackle its causes so that the gender pay gap is no more.”

Eastbourne MP Caroline Ansell said: “In the months to come I will be investigating the reasons for this unusual state of affairs regarding women’s pay to see if there is something here in Eastbourne that could be replicated in other parts of the country.

“It is also clear that in Eastbourne pay for both genders is lagging behind other areas in the south east and that is something that needs to be addressed.”