Health bosses are bracing themselves for a potential nursing recruitment crisis because of a Government bonus system.

Under the new scheme, which comes into force this month, nurses in West Sussex will be given up to £600 extra a year because the county is identified as an expensive area to live.

But East Sussex is not classed as an expensive enough area for nursing staff to be eligible for the cash bonus, despite Brighton and Hove having some of the highest house prices in the South-East.

Hospital trusts in East Sussex, already struggling to fill nursing vacancies, are worried potential new recruits will look to West Sussex instead so they can get the bonus.

The decision on where to grant the bonuses is based on a complicated method of calculation that takes into account house prices, wages and living expenses in towns and cities throughout the county.

Brighton and Hove's three MPs and local NHS officials are lobbying Health Minister Alan Milburn to make an exception for the city and allow the payments to be made.

Brighton Health Care NHS Trust, which runs four of the city's hospitals, currently has 166 vacancies out of more than 1,540 posts. The trust has increased its number of nursing posts from 1,200 to 1,544 in the last four years and has managed to fill more than 300 during the same period but still has a shortage.

The trust admitted it was concerned about potential new recruits being more interested in West Sussex hospitals but said it was doing everything it could to encourage them to Brighton.

It launched its own bonus scheme last year by offering nurses £1,500 if they moved to the area. It has also introduced more flexible working hours and a new shift system.

A trust spokesman said: "We are continuing to work with other local trusts and MPs to try to get the decision about the bonuses reversed."

In West Sussex, Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust currently has about 45 vacancies out of 1,400 staff. It said it managed to partially solve its recruitment problem by bringing in 25 Filipino nurses.