Social services bosses in Sussex were today handed at least £8.2 million to tackle the county's "bed blocking" crisis.

Ministers said the size of the awards acknowledged that Sussex is a "hot spot".

Dozens of beds are currently taken up by elderly people who are fit to leave hospital but have nowhere to go.

This "bed blocking" has a knock-on effect on other hospital departments by delaying the transfer of patients from A&E on to main surgical wards, forcing them to wait on trolleys.

The Department of Health today announced West Sussex would receive a minimum of £2.31 million a year for the next two years to spend on the problem - the fourth largest award in the country.

East Sussex is to receive £1.25 million and Brighton and Hove £537,000 for each of the next two years.

All three are included in a list of 50 local authorities which have particularly acute "bed blocking" problems.

A DoH spokesman said: "The resources are being targeted where the problem is the greatest."

The bulk of the money is expected to be spent on buying extra places in private care homes.

Council officials have until the end of this month to draw up an action plan on how they plan to spend the cash.

The money could also be used to employ extra social services staff so elderly people can be cared for at home instead of going into residential care.

The action plan must be agreed by local NHS managers before the money can be spent.

The councils must also agree to sign up to a new "service agreement" with the private sector care homes.

This will involve signing three-year contracts to pay for an agreed number of places in the care homes, rather than the short-term contracts which are currently in use.

The aim is to offer care-home owners a greater degree of certainty about the future and deter them from selling off the homes for private developers to turn into flats.

This has led to a dramatic reduction in the number of care home places available in recent years, particularly in areas such as Sussex where property prices have soared.

Gordon Lishman, director-general of Age Concern, said: "The injection of money announced today is an important step towards resolving the pain and anguish which older people suffer.

"However, this money must be linked to measures to stabilise the care industry and to make sure that vulnerable people are never again subjected to the effects of an unmanaged 'boom and bust' market system.

"Older people do not deserve to be pushed from pillar to post - they need security."