Mid Sussex District Council is considering a plan to pull out of its crumbling and overcrowded Haywards Heath office complex.

Council leaders have ordered a full review to see if there is any way of moving its staff out of the campus in Oaklands Road.

Workers have complained about the state of the buildings, several of which are prefabs which cost thousands of pounds a year to maintain.

Surveyors will carry out a feasibility study on the five-acre site which has been home to the council for almost three decades, though councillors stressed nothing had been decided.

Councillor Mike Gilks, cabinet member for leisure and property, said: "The main thing is the council offices are so inefficient to run.

"The prefab huts for the leisure and community development department are particularly bad. Those sort of buildings have a very finite lifespan.

"The main building has lots of corridors so the space is not used very efficiently. Staff are often working in cramped conditions and the facilities for the public are dire."

One hurdle to any move is the fact that organisations including the library, Haywards Heath Town Council and the Inland Revenue have offices on the site on long-term lease.

Sussex-based Chartered Surveyor Oakley Commercial has been instructed to carry out the study and a report will go before the council's ruling Cabinet on February 10.

Coun Gilks said: "The main drive is to provide a much better service for the public and for the staff. But the last thing we want is any impact on the taxpayer so it is a difficult problem to solve."