The fight against killer superbug MRSA is being hampered by a severe shortage of hospital beds across Sussex.

New Government figures show that most of the county's hospital trusts are overusing beds, increasing the risk of patients being infected.

Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust has the ninth-highest bed occupancy rate in the country, with an average of 646 out of 676 - or 95.5 per cent - in use at all times in 2004/5.

The Department of Health's target occupancy rate is 85 per cent or below, a figure calculated to allow enough time to get hospital-acquired infections under control.

East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust had a rate of 91.2 per cent, or 921 out of 1,010.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust had 856 beds in use out of 993, or 86.2 per cent.

Royal West Sussex NHS Trust had a rate of 87.8 per cent, or 391 out of 445.

Western Sussex PCT had a rate of 87 per cent, or 77 out of 88 beds.

Health experts warn that overcrowded wards undermine efforts to combat hospital-acquired infections such as MRSA.

NHS bosses are told to ensure there is always 15 per cent spare capacity to allow nurses and cleaning staff to thoroughly clean and keep superbugs at bay.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Steve Webb, who uncovered the figures, said: "The Government makes much of its measures to fight hospital superbugs but its own policies are making matters worse.

"In some hospitals, a bed hardly has time to get cold before the next person occupies it, making effective infection control all the more difficult.

"The Government should realise that driving up bed occupancy rates is damaging the fight against infection and it should enable hospitals to run at more sustainable levels of activity.

"Budget pressures mean that trusts are currently cutting beds, yet what it is actually needed is more bed capacity in order to tackle superbugs.

"The Government needs to decided what its priorities are."

Last year, Professor Barry Cookson, of the Health Protection Agency, warned that high bed occupancy is related to the spread of hospital-acquired infections.

He said: "Patients should realise that there is a certain safety level above which we start having problems."