Police in Sussex are being ordered on fewer armed operations despite a sharp rise in gun crime.
Home Office figures today revealed guns were authorised for 248 operations carried out by the force in 2001-2.
That compared to 353 in the previous year.
During the same period, gun crime on the streets of Sussex increased by 58 per cent.
Figures already published by the Home Office confirmed police recorded 155 firearms offences, up from 110 in the previous 12 months.
Sussex used armed response vehicles on fewer occasions - 189 compared to 245 the previous year.
The number of authorised firearms officers was 120, up from 118.
Two years ago, Home Secretary David Blunkett ordered a review of the use of armed police after 12 fatal shootings of members of the public in six years, including James Ashley, shot at his Hastings home in 1998.
Five officers were charged after the incident. Four were tried, but none convicted.
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