Sussex Police have opened a new centre to solve murders.

The force's incident rooms are not equipped with the technology which officers now rely on to speed up their investigations.

It is hoped the new centre at a former police station in Littlehampton, the third of four planned for the region, will speed up the initial stages of investigations into major crime, the so-called golden hour where the rapid collection of evidence is crucial.

The project has been led by Detective Chief Inspector Steve Dennis, who ran the investigation into the murder of Brighton teacher Jane Longhurst.

He said: "It will be instrumental in assisting us to secure convictions and to ensure we embrace national policy in respect of major crime investigations. The major incident suite gives us the opportunity to do this more efficiently."

The station has already been used for the most high-profile murder hunt of the Nineties, Operation Maple, the investigation into the death of schoolgirl Sarah Payne.

The resident senior investigating officer is Detective Chief Inspector Graham Pratt, who works alongside Detective Inspector Jeff Riley.

Teams investigating other serious crimes, including terrorist attacks, rapes and kidnaps, will also be able to use the centre as a resource.

Equipped with the new-generation Holmes 2 inquiry system, the suite has two major incident rooms, offices for senior investigating officers and rooms for briefings, media conferences, CCTV viewing, interviews and negotiations.