Senior police at the heart of the Labour conference security operation have been disciplined after going for an off-duty drink and turning up late for work.

Chief Superintendent Paul Pearce and Superintendent Ken Taylor turned up 20 minutes late for a night-shift briefing after spending part of their off-duty time earlier that day drinking.

They were not accused of being drunk but Chief Constable Ken Jones, who has just launched a crusade against alcohol-fuelled trouble in the city, was said to be livid.

The two officers, plus a third policeman who drank with them but turned up on time for the briefing, have since been disciplined.

Force press officer Chris Oswick said the internal procedure was "in relation to their judgement and general conduct whilst off duty" during Operation Otter, the conference security operation.

As a result, Mr Pearce and Mr Taylor have been moved to new jobs and all three were offered "advice", the force's term for a rebuke.

Mr Pearce, only last month appointed commander for the entire East Sussex policing area, has been moved to head the operations department at force headquarters in Lewes.

Mr Taylor, promoted in the spring as Hastings and Rother police chief, has been switched to Gatwick police commander.

The third officer, Chief Inspector Peter Mills, the only one of the three who turned up for the briefing on time, has kept his post as Eastbourne police commander.

The three were on-the-ground commanders that night for security within the ring of steel that had been set up around the Brighton Conference Centre during last week's Labour conference.

Otter, costing a record £3.7 million, was the biggest security operation of its kind ever mounted and involved more than 1,000 police.

Tension was heightened because of the July 7 suicide bombings in London although there was no intelligence Brighton would be a target.

In fact, the conference and Otter ran smoothly and were considered successes.

It was in that atmosphere that the 8pm briefing early last week was convened.

The three officers had worked as part of the night team since the previous Friday when delegates and senior politicians began arriving.

As the conference moved towards its conclusion the officers, all well-known to each other from their posts in East Sussex, went out in the city.

The force said all three were fit for duty that night but Assistant Chief Constable Geoff Williams, who conducted the night's briefing, was less than impressed with their actions that day.

How he got to hear of their actions is not clear.

But one force insider came to the officers' defence: "These are experienced and well respected officers. And they are not young.

"When you suddenly change to 12-hour night shifts, five or six nights on the trot, then it can serious affect your sleeping patterns.

"This was a case of two officers being 20 minutes late for a briefing.

"Any other time it would not have mattered too much but during Otter it became significant.

"Although they have been disciplined for being what amounts to out of line, they have not been demoted."

The Argus tried contacting all three officers but was told they were on leave or unavailable.