Ten police officers are assaulted in Sussex every week, official figures show.

The number of assaults on police has risen sharply in the county over the past three years, from 393 in 2005- 06 to 531 in 2007-08.

The figures obtained by The Argus have led to calls for stiffer sentences for those who attack police officers.

Brian Stockham, chairman of the Sussex Police Federation, said: “Any assault on an officer is an assault on society.

“The rise in willingness to make that assault is symptomatic of other figures accrued elsewhere, like a rise in attacks on staff in accident and emergency wards, for example.

“Where does it end? Any assault on these good people performing a public service must certainly result in a prison sentence.”

Geoffrey Theobald, police authority member and Brighton and Hove city councillor, said: “Any assault on anybody is one too many.

“However, the police have a particularly difficult job to do and are out on the streets representing us all.

“I condemn any assaults on officers who are simply trying to make society a safer place.”

The statistics show that although the total number of assaults has risen, the number of serious assaults is down.

Nine officers were seriously injured in 2005-06, with seven the following year and five in 2007-08. The number of sick days due to assaults has fluctuated from 334 in 2005-06 to 109 the following year and 276 in 2007-08.

City councillor and police authority member Ben Duncan said: “Policing is a job where there is a certain amount of conflict and assaults are almost inevitable.

“I believe one reason for the rise is a shift towards neighbourhood policing, which means more officers on the beat, interacting in the community.

“It is down to the justice system to deal in the appropriate way with people who attack the police.”