Sussex police have defended their force after failing to turn out for a string of emergency calls.

In response to a barrage of criticism, police said: "Don't be too harsh on us, we do care."

Following complaints about poor police service in Brighton and Hove, divisional commander Chief Superintendent Doug Rattray admitted officers did not always get it right.

He said to those who felt they had not received the service they deserved: "We apologise."

However, Mr Rattray said all indications showed the public was satisfied in the vast majority of cases.

This was backed by surveys carried out among crime victims and regular letters of thanks and praise.

Mr Rattray said: "We care deeply about the concerns of the public and we strive to provide the level of service people expect.

"Whenever there appears to be failings, for whatever reasons, it concerns us and we review policies and procedures."

Last week we reported on a number of complaints including one from a 77-year-old woman, whose home had been attacked by vandals five times since New Year's Eve but she had not seen a policeman in a month.

Pensioner Thomas Didcott, meanwhile, tracked down his wife's stolen car but police were too busy to seize it.

There were similar complaints from the victim of a homophobic assault and from some schools.

Mr Rattray said his officers and staff were very hard-working and sympathised with crime victims: "Quite often the sheer workload in this busy city frustrates them and it means officers can't always attend as promptly as they would like."

He pointed to two problems that might never be solved - the odd occasion an incident was given the wrong grading or priority and the times life-threatening emergencies meant officers could not attend less serious incidents.

Mr Rattray said: "It is important for us to use our skills to select which are the most serious to deal with first.

"Some times we get it wrong but most times, and I am talking about thousands of occasions, we get it right."

He pointed to recent efforts in East Brighton where residents were praising police for reducing crime and anti-social behaviour.

He wanted to reassure the public, especially vulnerable people, the elderly and those of ethnic and gender minorities, that "the systems we employ to tackle incidents generally are very effective."

The Anti Victimisation Unit (AVU), which tackles hate crime, he said, was at the cutting edge nationally and had brought groups and the police together in a common purpose.

A new policing model being introduced divides the city into three and makes each area commander and police team responsible to their communities.

He said local commanders and policing teams would become identifiable and more accountable and this should provide more reassurance.

Mr Rattray said: "The complaints published in The Argus have suggested that somehow the police don't care about crimes or victims.

"I want to assure everyone that we do very much care."