Police today hit back at a report which accuses the force of lagging behind in its preparations for the millennium.

Chief officers described the findings of independent watchdog body Taskforce 2000 as "outdated and wrong."

The report listed Sussex and the National Crime Intelligence Service among those police services way behind and at "serious risk" of suffering problems with time-sensitive computer systems and with policing public events.

But a force spokesman said: "We are concerned and disappointed. The report is based on information gathered at the end of last year.

"The force has since been reviewed by HM Inspectorate, which concluded we were extremely well-prepared.

"We are taking millennium preparations very seriously and since July last year we have a full-time project team working on the issues."

Parties

Assistant Chief Constable Tony Lake said: "We are not lagging behind and we are well placed to respond to the challenge.

"People need not be concerned about our state of readiness."

Nearly 500 pre-planned parties and events have been registered with the force, the largest being a party in Brighton's Old Steine, which is expected to attract between 20,000 and 50,000 people.

Taskforce 2000 found that only 13 forces have conducted any sort of audit of their programmes - none of them, it seems, using an independent auditor.

The report into the public sector readiness for the so-called millennium bug had uncovered "a depressing picture" throughout the country's emergency services.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.