Hospital officials have asked for more time to provide answers in the row over the six-figure pay-off of their former chief executive.

East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust has so far refused to reveal details of the severance package handed to Annette Sergeant, rumoured to have included a "golden goodbye" of up to £500,000.

The Argus submitted a request under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act for details but the trust is more than a week over the legal deadline for responding.

MPs last night accused the trust, which runs Eastbourne District General Hospital and the Conquest Hospital, St Leonards, of a "culture of secrecy" and demanded its officials release details of the pay-off .

The Act allows the public access to information held by public bodies and is designed to make decision-making more open and accountable.

Public bodies must respond to requests within 20 working days. The Argus emailed a request last month seeking details of Ms Sergeant's pay-off. We received an acknowledgement on September 19 but since then have heard nothing.

A follow-up email to the trust's FoI office on Monday has so far gone unanswered.

Yesterday the trust acknowledged the request should have been answered by now and said a response was likely "within the next few days".

Eastbourne Tory MP Nigel Waterson said: "I think my constituents have a right to know and I don't like this culture of secrecy that exists at the trust.

"The figures are going to come out anyway and the trust should just end the speculation that is rife.

"There have been figures of up to £500,000 suggested. If it is actually less, the trust should make that clear."

Hastings and Rye Labour MP Michael Foster has submitted a written Parliamentary question to Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt demanding the details.

He said: "I have pressed from the very beginning for answers on this but neither myself nor any other MPs have been given answers.

"That is why I have tabled a Parliamentary question to the Secretary of State for Health relating to the terms of her departure and the pay-off, if any.

"I can't understand why the details haven't been released. I will continue to press on the matter until they are."

Mr Foster believed the figure would be less than the £500,000 rumoured.

Ms Sergeant joined the trust in April 2002 when East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust was formed from the merger of Eastbourne Hospitals and Hastings and Rother NHS Trusts.

Her final months in charge saw unprecedented bed pressures and multi-million-pound cash problems.

The trust, which gained one star from the Healthcare Commission in its annual performance ratings, is more than £3 million in the red.