Sussex Chief Constable Paul Whitehouse was fiercely criticised by his own officers last night.

He was attacked over pay, performance, conditions and staffing levels during a Police Federation meeting at the Brighton Centre. PC Colin Clasby, an emergency response officer based in Brighton, changed careers five years ago and told the meeting he was now starting to "bitterly regret" joining Sussex Police.

He said he was having to claim family credit to remain in the force, and added: "I can't afford to stay." He was among 500 rank-and-file officers who delivered a verbal roasting to the chief constable.

Officers stopped short of a rumoured vote of no confidence in Mr Whitehouse but many attacked him over pay, performance, conditions and insufficient numbers.

One told how there had been protests at Crowborough and Hastings police

stations by members of the public dissatisfied with service, and said it was embarrassing the force was bottom of the league table of public satisfaction over patrols and response to burglaries.

Another officer said if the force was run like a Premiership football team, the manager and coaches would have gone long ago. Mr Whitehouse admitted "we are at a low point" but promised "we are going to get there by doing better - we have all got to do better."

One barracker shouted: "Not with you in charge we won't." The chief said he had no faith in a government of whatever political persuasion to provide the force with enough money to improve pay.

Federation branch chairman Graham Alexander said the force's vision of "smaller, better, different" was flawed: "We must not allow further shrinkage because it places unacceptable levels of stress and strain on those left to bear the brunt."

He told the Chief Constable: "You cannot expect the response policing of communities in Sussex to be left to a meagre band of hard-pressed and usually inexperienced constables, more thinly spread than at any other time."

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