Officials at a debt-hit hospital trust have pledged to rein in spending to ease mounting financial pressures.

East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust overspent by £554,000 in July, plunging it into the red by more than £3.3 million in the past four months.

The latest figures were revealed yesterday by officials at a trust board meeting at the Eastbourne District General Hospital (DGH).

Bosses at the trust - which runs the DGH and the Conquest Hospital, St Leonards - must save £17 million by the end of March just to break even.

The figures emerged a day after the trust announced its chief executive Annette Sergeant is being replaced by Kim Hodgson on October 10.

Mrs Sergeant has been off work since mid-June for personal reasons but she is still being employed at the trust.

She presided over the trust during an intensely difficult period, marred by unprecedented bed-blocking and financial pressures.

Finance director David Townsley said the trust faced "extreme difficulty" in achieving its statutory duty to break even.

Non-executive director Ian Hunt said the overspending was "unsustainable" and sought reassurances measures would be put in place to cut it.

Mr Townsley said mechanisms will be introduced to cut overspending, including areas such as agency and other temporary staff expenditure.

The trust has struggled under a heavy burden of debt and beds pressure for months.

During the winter, bed occupancy soared to more than 95 per cent - well above the national rate.