SUSSEX Police are failing to properly investigate more than a quarter of reported crimes.

A Freedom of Information request by Channel 4’s Dispatches revealed the force did not look into 29 per cent of crimes reported last year.

Dispatches gathered information from all constabularies in England and Wales, finding almost a million crimes a year are not being probed fully.

Sussex Assistant Chief Constable Nick May said the force has to prioritise crimes based on threat, harm and risk. He said: “Our teams across Sussex are working tirelessly to meet the challenges they face every day. We are prioritising what we do, ensuring we are responding in the right way to address incidents which have the greatest threat, harm and risk attached.

“With more than 120,000 crimes reported to us every year we have to make choices about how we prioritise these. We look at each case and make decisions based upon a range of factors, with a focus on protecting the most vulnerable. However, we are heartened Sussex Police has been rated ‘good’ (by the watchdog) and the county remains one of the safest in the country.”