Police bosses have hit out at BNP allegations that they give preferential treatment to “foreign religious centres”.

Senior Sussex officers said the claims were a deliberate attempt to create tension between communities, the police and the public.

Statements placed on the right-wing party’s website said a Horsham and Crawley branch meeting had discovered that police had agreed “special measures” to respond to alarms at Broadfield Mosque and Ifield Sikh temple.

The site added that a senior officer is automatically assigned to any callout to either of the religious sites.

It stated: “British people who may need the police are put behind the interests of the foreign religious centres and have to wait, even if they called first”.

Speaking to The Argus Chief Inspector Steve Curry dismissed the allegations as “without any foundation”.

Chief Insp Curry said: "These allegations are clearly designed to undermine relations between communities and between the police and the public we serve.

“Sussex Police remain committed to serving all the people of Sussex fairly and impartially.

"There is no truth to the allegation that each response to the temple is supervised by a 'senior police officer'; the response to any alarm activation at the temple site will be supervised by the duty inspector as with any other call of that type."