Worthing's district police chief has been bombarded with complaints from residents in a "forgotten corner" of the town.

East Worthing residents called a special meeting to vent their frustration at policing levels, noisy neighbours, lorries using rat runs and the failure to close down an Amsterdam-style coffee shop.

Chief Inspector Russ Whitfield, commander of Worthing district, was accused of neglecting east Worthing at the standing-room-only meeting, attended by more than 100 people.

Many of them wanted to know why the controversial Buddy's Hydroponics cafe in Brougham Road was still open.

Mr Whitfield said limited police resources were hampering his efforts to shut down the cafe.

He said: "The Government will tell me off if I do not concentrate on burglary, violent crime, vehicle crime, domestic violence and race and hate crime - that's what I am meant to concentrate on.

"Having said that, it is a quality of life issue and I am trying to balance that with our other responsibilities. That's why we raided them three times.

"But I cannot allow officers to raid it every day of the week.

"Our philosophy is to drive crime out of the town centre and out of Worthing. The number of crimes we have to respond to detracts from us responding to calls in the housing areas around Worthing."

The town's first Dutch-style coffee shop, the Quantum Leaf, was opened in Rowlands Road last year and has since been closed down following three police raids.

However, Buddy's Hydroponics has remained open.

Three men are to appear before Worthing Magistrates' Court tomorrow to face charges related to the running of both cafes.

Following calls for more officers in east Worthing, Mr Whitfield said anti-war protests had been a drain on resources because organisers were proving difficult to work with.

Explaining why he used so many officers to police recent protests, he said: "We try desperately to contact the people organising these things to find out how many people they are going to have, what type of people, what route, but will they speak to us? No.

"If I'm on duty and a situation happens like in Brighton, and say someone gets killed, I can be personally liable because I have neglected my obligation as commanding officer."

Margaret Bishop of Sussex Police Authority said the rise in the Sussex Police share of council tax bills would not mean a large increase in beat officers because of the numbers needed to investigate new crimes.

She said: "There is a vast increase in crime that residents of east Worthing may not be aware of. Terrorism threats, crack cocaine and internet child pornography did not exist years ago."

East Worthing's Conservative MP, Tim Loughton, organised the meeting at East Worthing Community Centre in Pages Lane.

He said: "One of the biggest problems in this patch is it is a cut-through for traffic.

"Traffic calming is fraught with problems and putting in speed humps can simply move the problem to another road. If we can come up with a sensible proposal, I can go to the county council with it.

"The amount of traffic in that part of Worthing is disproportionate to the housing in that area."

Worthing Homes chief executive Robin King - responsible for a large amount of social housing in east Worthing - said tenants were vetted before they were given a property to try to reduce antisocial behaviour.

He said; "We are aware of problem flats in Meadow Road and a number of issues with antisocial behaviour and the condition of the property and gardens and we are taking action.

"From April 1, all gardens will be included in a maintenance contract."