Sussex Police watchdogs believe "farcical" proposals to change the way stop and searches are carried out could hinder officers from gathering intelligence on the streets.

Consultation groups say officers could become so paranoid and fed up with filling in paperwork they would no longer stop to have chats with "little old ladies" and could miss out on vital tip-offs.

As part of a Home Office review, Sussex Police Authority is consulting with community groups on proposed changes in the way stop and searches are conducted.

One recommendation from the Stephen Lawrence inquiry says officers should fill in a report every time they stop someone, including "voluntary" stops when someone offers information, as well as for every stop and search.

Sussex police officers are currently obliged to record every stop and search they carry out.

Sussex Police Community Safety Co-ordinator David Simmons, who is carrying out the consultation for the Home Office, said the issue of stop and searches was a major cause of mistrust between the police and ethnic minority groups and the inquiry was looking at ways of making the police more accountable.

He said: "It is seen as a way of engaging with the community and the police being more accountable. If police work within a known structure, they will get more confidence from the community."

He said research had shown in Sussex and across the country, a black person was six or seven times more likely to be stopped by the police than a white one.

The inquiry recommends that records of stops and stop and searches should be monitored and published so the way police operate is more transparent.

Mr Simmons, who has also consulted with young and gay people, said: "We need to find out why a disproportianality exists and when we have four to six per cent ethnic minority population in a town in Sussex, they are more than six or seven times more likely to be stopped."

At a meeting of the Lewes and Seahaven Police Community Consultative Group, Ken Gerry, chairman of Sussex Neighbourhood Watch Federation, said: "At the end of the day, how is a police officer to do his job? Are we even going to record when a police officer says hello to someone? They are going to be afraid to speak to anyone. I think this is taking it to a ridiculous length."

Consultative group member, Maureen Messer, said: "Do you mean to tell me that if a police officer talks to an old lady on the street he has got to record it? It's a farce."

The inquiry recommends stop and searches should continue and Inspector Ron Preddy stressed their role in driving down crime and gathering intelligence.

He said car crime could be stopped altogether in a hotspot area if suspected crooks were stopped and questioned.

Mr Preddy said: "It is quite right that a person being stopped and searched has a memento of that and knows their rights. But we have got to make the process simpler."

Inspector Neil Moscrop said it was important to clarify exactly what a stop was and whether it should include every time an officer spoke with a member of the public.

He was also worried members of the public could become hostile if officers had to write down their name and self-defined ethnic origin, which the inquiry was recommending.