HUNDREDS of new bobbies could be on the beat after plans to boost police spending were revealed.

Policing minister Kit Malthouse MP says the government will recruit 6,000 more officers nationwide by the end of next year, and many of those will serve communities in Sussex.

He visited Sussex Police headquarters in Lewes where he met 72 new recruits who are half way through their training.

Despite warnings from Brighton and Hove’s three opposition MPs over violent crime, he says it is not fair to lay the blame for a rise in crime at the Government’s door.

Meanwhile as part of the national campaign, Sussex police chiefs hope that as many as 500 extra officers could be recruited, on top of the 250 officers and 100 PCSOs already announced.

Mr Malthouse was asked by The Argus about MPS Lloyd Russell Moyle, Peter Kyle, and Caroline Lucas and their appeals for a specialist taskforce to tackle violent crime.

Their letter in April was in response to a 108 per cent rise in violent crime in the city compared to 2011.

The Labour and Green MPs said police simply could not cope with demand, and blamed Tories for cuts to the force, which shrank from 3,300 to 2,500 officers since 2010.

Mr Malthouse said: “I don’t think it is fair to characterise it that way. Crime changes week to week, and it is the job of the Government to be agile and to respond to that.

“In 2010 we were running an enormous deficit, and crime was falling. In the past few years some crime types have risen and we are responding to that.

“But we should not forget that in 2008, when there were many more officers, knife crime was spiking.”

Mr Malthouse said it is a top priority to get more officers serving communities, and said 20,000 will be recruited nationwide.

Sussex Police Chief Constable Giles York said he is hopeful of hundreds of new bobbies on the beat following the Government’s £750million announcement.

He said: “We have sometimes not been able to provide the service to the public that they need and deserve.

“I want us to be able to go on the front foot again, preventing crime both visibly and covertly to reduce the impact and harm being caused.”

Among the recruits training yesterday was Zsanett Horvath, 28, originally from Hungary, but now living in Brighton after moving here nine years ago.

The mum-of-two said she has wanted to be a police officer since she was a teenager, and will now get her chance to serve the public.

Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne said the force is ready to step up its recruitment.

Sussex Police Federation chairman Inspector Matt Webb said: “We have said for a long time that cuts have consequences, with increases in crime and less safety for officers. We are glad that the Government has started to rectify the crisis.”