Sussex Police officers would march on the House of Commons if they were excluded from new housing allowances.

The warning came from the Police Federation after Home Secretary David Blunkett announced he was looking at ways of stemming the flow of officers from the shires to London where they earn more.

Sussex Police are suffering from the "brain drain" and blame it for a fall in detection rates.

Doubts were expressed today that Sussex officers would qualify for any new housing allowance. They have already missed out on extra pay introduced to assist officers with housing costs.

London police received an extra £6,000 and officers in counties bordering the capital received £2,000. Sussex officers received £1,000.

Nicholas Soames, the Mid Sussex Tory MP, told Mr Blunkett earlier this week Sussex Police were unfairly penalised and seriously affected by the discrepancies.

Mr Blunkett said three years ago the drain of officers from the Metropolitan police had reached dangerous levels.

He said: "The reversal of that has placed strain on forces immediately outside London, which is why now, and through our continuing conversations with chief constables, we are doing everything possible to achieve a balance by appropriate measures and rewards, including housing, for the most affected authorities."

Sussex Police sources said local officers were likely to miss out on the proposed benefits because of the county's distance from London.

One said: "We missed out on Blunkett's extra pay awards last time so why should we expect any different treatment with housing allowance?"

Graham Alexander, joint secretary of the Sussex branch of the Police Federation, said excluding Sussex would be "utterly absurd".

He said: "We would have a few things to say about that.

"I think we would be marching on the House of Commons if we missed out on this."

There are reports some officers in the Metropolitan force have received "bounties" of up to £300 for each officer they have enticed away from their force to transfer to London, although the Metropolitan Police deny the allegation.

In the year to March, 2003, Sussex lost 72 officers of all ranks and gained only 32 from other forces.

The biggest worry is the loss of experienced officers.

Thursday June 19, 2003