Sussex could be hit by 20 per cent tax rises if the Government merged the county police with neighbouring forces.

The Sussex Police Authority (SPA) today hinted it would give the merger plan a thumbs down when it meets next Thursday.

Authority members are being urged in a report not to recommend any merger plan with Surrey, Kent and Hampshire.

Following an 11-week review of possible restructuring options ordered by the Home Secretary in October, the authority and the force were ordered to submit their preference by December 23.

But authority chairman Peter Jones and Chief Constable Ken Jones are advising the "headlong rush into structural reorganisation should be halted".

They recommend that consultation should take place on how a "robust and defensible" process should be established to properly review the response to the HM Inspector of Constabulary report Closing the Gap'.

The report said the present 43-force structure was no longer "fit for purpose" to deal with protective services including counter-terrorism and extremism, strategic roads policing, public order and other major crime.

Ken Bodfish, Brighton and Hove City Council leader and a member of the Sussex Police Authority, believes closer ties would be enhanced if merger plans went ahead.

He said money would be saved by better use of specialised teams and residents too would benefit by stronger ties between councils and local police.

The chief and Mr Jones's report stressed they were not opposed to change but said the "impossibility of performing the task in less than three months has become clear to all those involved in the process."

The report said there were a range of options including merger with Hampshire, Kent and Surrey forces in a number of scenarios from all four to just two. But, it said, no account had been taken of the financial circumstances of amalgamation.

It said: "Because of the way that police authorities are funded by government, Sussex and Surrey have been under-funded compared to the majority of other forces for many years.

"To bring everyone into line, the amalgamation of Sussex with Kent and Surrey would result in a 12 per cent increase in police council tax to Sussex taxpayers and nearly 20 per cent in the case of a Sussex-Surrey merger."

David Rogers, authority member and Newhaven and East Sussex councillor, said the punitive tax rise alone was reason enough to condemn merger proposals as "unacceptable".

He believes people would have less of a say on local policing.

At the annual conference of the Association of Police Authorities in Belfast last month, Mr Jones asked Home Office minister Hazel Blears to allow the full process of consultation to take place.

He said: "In the very short timescale available to us we have consulted with a wide cross-section of Sussex people including MPs, local authorities, criminal justice, health and other partners, staff associations and the public generally.

"There is a significant lack of enthusiasm for change; indeed, there is widespread concern that despite assurances from Government, the creation of larger police forces will have a detrimental effect on local policing and lead to a more remote police service.

"Great support has been expressed for the way in which Sussex has been among the leaders in establishing neighbourhood policing teams"