The election of a police commissioner will cost Sussex taxpayers more than £1 million, it has been claimed.

Home Secretary Theresa May has proposed to give voters in the county the right to choose a US-style figurehead to oversee Sussex Police.

But the Sussex Police Authority (SPA) has stated the process of electing a person who will have the power to hire and fire the chief constable would be “upwards of £1 million”.

Critics have questioned if money should be redirected from the policing budget at a time when the force is planning to cut £52 million and 1,000 jobs over the next four years.

For full report see today's Argus.