Four million pounds is to be spent on tackling a bed-blocking crisis in hospitals.

The money will be used to pay for 100 extra nursing home places in East Sussex and should halve the number of patients waiting to leave hospital.

About £1 million comes from the Government and the rest comes from a reserve fund set aside by East Sussex County Council to tackle the problem.

Council leader Peter Jones said the problem could not be solved by just throwing money at it.

He said: "We have decided to step in with this initiative because of our concern about the rising number of delayed discharges.

"This package is all the extra money we have available for bed blocking and, while it will relieve the situation, it does not solve the issue of too many people entering hospital in the first place."

The council has been trying to cut the numbers needing residential care by setting up extra care and support for them in their homes.

The aim of the intermediate care scheme is to not only get people out of hospital more quickly but to also give them enough help to stop them coming back in again.

Eastbourne District General Hospital and the Conquest Hospital in Hastings have had long-term problems with bed-blockers.

Having a patient waiting to leave has a knock-on effect with operations cancelled and patients filling accident and emergency departments because no beds are available.

East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs both hospitals, has the power to fine the county for every night a patient stays longer than they need to. The council could potentially be fined £300,000 this year.

Instead of paying fines the county wants to invest the money in health projects with the trust but no agreement has been reached.

The council believes too many patients are still being referred to hospital by GPs.

In a joint statement, the chief executives of East Sussex Hospitals and primary care trusts in the county said: "NHS organisations in East Sussex welcome the council's investment in long term care placements and the recognition of their responsibility to support people moving from hospital beds to residential and nursing care. This will enable our services to focus on the treatment of acutely ill patients."

Eastbourne MP Nigel Waterson said: "I hope to see much closer partnership working between the various health organisations locally.

"Underlying Government underfunding is also a factor. Under Labour we have a waiting list to get out of hospital and one to get in."