Taxpayers who forked out 18 per cent more for police services this year are facing yet another hefty increase.

The Sussex Police Authority (SPA) is warning of a £17 million cut in Government grants and a stark choice: higher taxes or reduced services.

SPA chairman David Rogers blamed the Government's plan to switch grants from southern shires to the North.

Without that money, he warned, the authority would have to turn to local taxpayers to fill the financial gap.

He said different options had been put forward by the Home Office for the consideration of police authorities but the majority would penalise Sussex and shire authorities in the South East and move resources elsewhere.

He said the potential loss for Sussex, if all the police funding proposals adverse to the county were adopted, was £17 million or a nine per cent reduction in funding.

He said even if reductions were phased in they would have a "devastating impact" on the level of service provided or mean a very large increase in council tax not to improve the service but simply to replace lost central funding.

He said: "Sussex Police have made great strides to improve both performance and public satisfaction and to provide the service people want.

"However, the proposed cuts in funding will undermine these considerable achievements."

The authority earlier this year approved an 18 per cent or 21p-per-week council tax rise to meet less Government grant and to pay for a package of police improvements, including 50 extra officers.

The police element of the council tax in Sussex is the fifth lowest in England and Wales but Mr Rogers warned increases were necessary to improve the performance and effectiveness of Sussex Police.

He said providing for 50 extra officers to fight crime was "what local choice and local tax should be about, not replacing core government funding."