A Sussex policeman has been sacked and another has resigned after taking a woman on a joyride and making 'inappropriate' remarks to her.

In a separate case, two other officers have been disciplined for failing to find a woman who lay dead in her home. Her body was not discovered until three months later.

The cases are highlighted in a damning report going before the Sussex Police Authority complaints committee in Lewes today.

It shows complaints between April and June for the first time broke the 500 barrier, 49 per cent up on last year and double the 1998 figure.

The vast majority of complaints investigated and dealt with during the quarter were unsubstantiated, withdrawn or informally resolved.

Twenty-six were substantiated, including the two highlighted.

The first stemmed from an incident when two officers gave a 20-year-old woman a lift to her home in Crawley in a police vehicle.

The officers deviated from the intended route and took her on a protracted journey and spoke to her in an 'inappropriate' manner.

Following complaints, one officer resigned and the other was required to resign.

The other case involved a member of the public who alerted police after becoming concerned about a 55-year-old woman in Eastbourne.

Two officers searched the woman's home but failed to check the premises thoroughly or make provision for follow-up inquiries and investigations.

The report says: "This resulted in the body of the lady not being discovered until three months later."

Both officers received written warnings.

The case comes hot on the heels of another failed police search.

Sussex Police were forced to apologise to the family and neighbours of a missing pensioner who lay dead in his garage for more than two years.

Walter Bellman, an 82-year-old loner, is believed to have killed himself in a garage near his home in Wellington Road, Brighton.

Officers searched the wrong garage and Mr Bellman was not found.