NHS hospital trust bosses are still refusing to reveal a six-figure pay-off handed to a former chief executive.

Demands have grown for East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust to release details of the golden handshake awarded to Annette Sergeant.

But in a letter to The Argus, the trust insists the decision not to reveal her pay-off was "taken at the highest level of the trust".

The debt-ridden trust is rumoured to have handed over between £200,000 and £300,000 to the now-departed Ms Sergeant.

Calls to release the details have intensified in light of a damaging Healthcare Commission report into allegations of bullying at the trust.

It claimed there was a "lack of visibility" from Ms Sergeant and there were worries about her failure to address concerns about medical director Dr David Scott.

Ms Sergeant stepped down from her £135,000-a-year position at East Sussex before the report was published this month.

But there has been an ongoing furore over the size of her pay-off.

One request by The Argus under Freedom of Information legislation was refused by the trust, which runs the Eastbourne DGH and Conquest Hospital, St Leonards.

Now it has emerged that an appeal we lodged against their decision has been rebuffed.

In a letter to The Argus, trust director of operations Graham Griffiths said: "In line with your appeal, I have made further enquiries and would confirm the decision not to disclose the information requested was taken at the highest level within the trust.

"I remain unable to provide you with any further information regarding your request."

Politicians in East Sussex, including Eastbourne Tory MP Nigel Waterson and Hastings and Rye Labour MP Michael Foster, have demanded the trust be frank.

They said the pay-off would have been met through public funds, entitling the public to know how much she was paid.

Ms Sergeant has now been appointed interim chief executive at West Dorset General Hospitals NHS Trust.