HUNDREDS of new police officers could be recruited next year as part of new spending plans.

Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne is looking at an increase in the council tax precept to pay for more staff on the force this week.

Police chiefs say 220 new police officers were to be taken on in the financial year 2018 to 2019, and said there have also been 50 officers transferring onto the force.

Now, there are plans to recruit a further 168 officers in the next financial year, with chiefs hinting that investigations teams could be boosted.

So far, 140 officers have either started their training or are already on the beat, police chiefs said.

At a performance and accountability meeting the chiefs revealed that ten officers have started in Brighton and Hove, along with 11 who are can be based across the whole county but are mostly assigned to the city. Meanwhile 12 officers set to be designated to Brighton and Hove are still in classroom training.

More emphasis has been put on placing officers in West Sussex, where 73 officers have been assigned, while 34 have gone to East Sussex.

The force’s new Deputy Chief Constable Jo Shiner said: “We have really looked carefully at where the demand is, and where we already have established strength, and posted officers accordingly.

“It is about making sure we meet local demand, and being equitable about where they need to be.”

Earlier this week The Argus reported on Police Federation concerns about a Detectives in Crisis campaign.

Detective Constable Simon Steele said his colleagues reported that they had heavy workloads and were unable to meet the demands being placed upon them.

Chief Constable Giles York said the volume of work for investigations teams has increased, but said the next phase of recruitment could be used to help detectives and to modernise the way policing is done.