Police in Sussex spend just 17 per cent of their time on patrols, new research shows.

Mountains of paperwork and constant meetings are keeping bobbies off the beat, according to the Sussex branch of the Police Federation.

Branch spokesman Inspector Graham Alexander said officers had become "meetings junkies" and were spending much of their time, unwillingly, on tasks other than direct policing.

He said: "We've become meeting mad and it is an absolute nonsense."

The research, carried out by the Home Office and based partly on studies in Brighton, showed officers spent fewer than one in five days on "reassurance patrols".

Sussex Police said they recognised the problem and were assisting with a national "bureaucracy task force" aimed at cutting back on systems and procedures which prevented police doing their job.

The force is also looking at ways of increasing visibility and reassurance by expanding numbers and possibly sharing some powers with local authorities and security firms.

Assistant Chief Constable Tony Toynton said the force planned to expand from 3,100 officers to 3,500 by 2006 but even that increase was not expected to have a significant impact on police visibility and public reassurance He said: "Having a more flexible workforce can ensure trained staff can deal with issues that do not require the involvement of a police officer, for example graffiti or cycling on pavements."

The force are already employing police community support officers (PCSO) who have limited powers to support regular police and are also looking at employing other staff trained to deal with certain investigations, prisoner detention and escort duties.

If private contractors were used for detentions centre duties, for instance, it would put up to 30 sergeants back on the front line.

He said PCSOs working in Sussex were beginning to provide the reassurance the public has demanded.

He said: "Their presence is being used to prevent and detect offences and anti social behaviour that do not need to be addressed with the full training and powers of police officers."

Employees of local authorities and security companies could also be given limited police powers.

He said: "The effect of these measures is to change the public face of policing.

"Not only do they enable a greater number and wider range of roles to undertake policing tasks but they also enable police powers to be shared with other agencies and organisations.

"They enable the police service to harness a new range of employees to support frontline policing and help to incorporate the energies of other organisations to assist in tackling crime and reassuring communities."