Residents are worried about where their elusive local beat bobby has gone.

People living in the Hangleton area of Hove fear they had been left without a community police officer because their regular bobby has not been seen for weeks.

Sandy Kirk, chairman of Poplar Close Residents Association, called Hove police to find out who was covering the patch after an officer failed to turn up at a residents' meeting for the first time in three years.

He said: "When I asked about the regular officer, they said she had been transferred to CID. I would like to know who is in charge of this area."

In August, it was revealed the number of police walking the beat had fallen by more in Sussex than anywhere else in England and Wales.

Uniformed patrols between 1996/97 and 1999/2000 fell 27 per cent from 1,601 to 1,176, according to Home Office figures.

Sussex Police said the figures did not accurately reflect what was happening on the ground and the proportion of staff and police working in the front line was increasing.

Peter Willows, Tory councillor for Hangleton, said: "I can't find out who is supposed to be the community officer here either. It's a huge area for one officer to cover but the police are so stretched they don't know which way to go.

"The regular officer seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth and at the moment we feel we are policeless.

"I and a number of other councillors will be meeting the divisional commander at Hove police station on November 5 and this is one of the issues we will be raising."

A police spokesman said Hangleton's regular beat officer was still in position, although she was on temporary attachment to CID.

He said: "She has aspirations towards CID, so potentially she could move sideways, but she hasn't been replaced yet. It is difficult to replace someone when they are still in the job."

Inspector Paul Spurgeon, in charge of the section, can be contacted by residents in the meantime on 0845 6070999.