Dozens of crime-fighting jobs will be controversially axed because of the ending of a Government grant.

At least 13 community wardens and 26 backroom staff at Hastings Borough Council will be given their p45s in the new year because of the cash shortfall.

The spectre of job losses has been hanging over council staff throughout the festive period and a final decision could now be made as early as January 7 when the council meets to discuss the issue.

The move is the latest in a number of council job losses across Sussex as authorities struggle to balance their books.

More than 160 jobs could be shed by Brighton and Hove City Council in an attempt to cut £3.5 million a year from the budget while a further 20 jobs could go because of extra costs handed to the local authority by the expansion of free bus travel for pensioners by the Government.

Other councils across Sussex have warned they too may have to axe jobs as they wrestle with council tax limits and other budget restrictions.

And staff at both Worthing and Adur councils are also set to lose their posts after the two authorities merge.

The situation in Hastings has been caused because the ring-fenced Neighbourhood Renewal Fund grant from the Government to the Conservative run council worth millions of pounds - and ironically designed to boost employment - has ended.

However opposition politicians believe the job losses are unnecessary because the council is instead set to receive money from the Government's Working Neighbourhoods Fund, which they say would more than pay for the posts.

Councillor Jeremy Birch, the Labour member for Central St Leonards, said: "The new money is designed to be used to regenerate the town and can be used pretty much for whatever the council wants. It's not ring-fenced.

"The argument comes down to whether you think having community wardens out on the streets fighting things like graffiti and low level crime is likely to boost business and employment in the town and we say it does.

"You are more likely to want to set up or expand your business if the streets are clean and the town is a nice place to live."

A report published by Hastings Borough Council outlines how 13 of the 19 warden jobs are set to be axed.

Wardens mount regular patrols around the town. They deal with low-level crime and have the power to issue fixed penalty fines to offenders.

A further 26 jobs in the council's regeneration and community services department, which are directly supported by the lost funds, are also set to go.

Cash from the new fund could be used to "delay" the job losses, the council's chief executive, Roy Mawford, said.

However the report concludes by recommending that the job losses are made.

Mr Mawford said: "A warden service in its current form will clearly not be sustainable in the future and staff numbers will need to be significantly reduced."

He added that increasing numbers of police community support officers would largely help maintain visible patrols in the wardens' absence.