SUSSEX Police officers are having to resort to using food banks as they struggle to make ends meet, it has been claimed.

Matt Webb, chairman of the Sussex Police Federation, said it has helped several officers so far this year after they found their wages left them struggling to put food on the table.

Some had resorted to food banks while others had been given vouchers by the federation so they could buy provisions, he said.

His comments came after home secretary Amber Rudd was grilled over officer pay at a Police Federation conference in Birmingham last week.

She is reported to have expressed surprise at learning officers across the country were resorting to food banks and suggested average earnings were £40,000 a year.

Mr Webb said starting salaries in Sussex were around £20,000 but a high cost of living meant this did not go far.

He said: “It is not right that police officers, who are prevented by law from having a second job, are finding it hard to make ends meet.

“I believe a couple of officers have gone to food banks and we have helped a small number of people with food vouchers.”

He said it was “clear” from Ms Rudd’s speech at the conference that police pay was not going to improve, adding: “It seems to be unfortunately a refusal to see the facts.”

Mr Webb also said it was “frustrating” to hear budgets could be at risk of more cuts from the Government and savings already outlined would still have to be found, reiterating fears of how this could affect policing in Sussex.

He said: “The public are already noticing there are fewer PCSOs. Cuts have consequences. We can only do less with less.”

Ms Rudd, the prospective Conservative candidate for Hastings and Rye, came under fire at the conference for telling delegates crime was down despite losses of 20,000 officers through budget cuts since 2010.

Mr Webb dismissed her comments as a “use of statistics”. He claimed while numbers were down, crime has risen in the last year with demand on frontline officers increasing.

Responding to her declaration that the Conservatives were the party which “always stood for law and order”, he said: “You can’t rest on your laurels.”

But he welcomed her pledge to back chief constables who allowed officers to use spit hoods, despite complaints about the force using the controversial restraint technique on children.

Mr Webb added: “Absolutely I am pleased that we would be able to use them in future. Yes, it doesn’t sound very nice but policing isn’t always very nice.”

The force finally apologised to the mother of a disabled 11-year-old girl in August last year, four years after her daughter was restrained in a spit hood, but refused to rule out using the mesh hoods on children again.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission found officers involved had a case to answer for misconduct but the force issued them with “management advice”.

Deputy chief constable Bernie O’Reilly defended its use on the girl at the time but referred the concerns to the College of Policing which sets national standards.