More than 30 police officers are being recruited for the Hastings area after a funding boost.

The Senlac division, covering Hastings, St Leonards, Bexhill and the Rother district, has been awarded an extra £1 million over two years by Sussex Police Authority.

The sum is the largest given to any police division in the county.

Superintendent Paul Curtis said: "As a result of promised funding, I gave a commitment last year to fund an extra 24 police officers and those officers are now beginning to appear on the streets."

Mr Curtis hopes extra manpower will lead to a higher clear-up rate for crimes and more officers on the beat.

He said: "I am particularly keen to ensure community beat officers, especially in the rural area, are able to spend almost all of their time in their communities without the need to remove them for other duties."

Chief Inspector Nick Wilkinson, head of operations, said: "Our plans will enable officers to be freed to focus on visible patrolling directed to local problems."