Fifty more police officers will be patrolling the streets of Sussex in the coming year.

Forty extra Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) will be hired and eight regular officers will return to frontline duties by hiring civilians to fill their posts.

The extra numbers will be funded by a five per cent police tax increase, bringing the total police precept for an average Band D property to £115.74. Currently, there are 3,175 regular officers and 280 PCSOs.

The Sussex Police Authority voted unanimously for the 11p-per-household increase.

Former Chief Constable Ken Jones, at what was his last meeting, said the rise would also fund the introduction of a new university-based student officer course.

It would also expand the use of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology which is "proving so effective in the detection and restriction of criminals using Sussex roads".

Members were told that changes in the funding of police pensions and counter terrorism operations meant the authority had to use cash reserves and reduce partnership funding to keep the increase to Sussex taxpayers low.

Members were concerned they had approved a non-growth budget for what was "one of the most under-funded" police forces in England and Wales.

With uncertainty about the future structure of policing in the South-East, chairman Peter Jones warned that starting from such a low base point, the start-up costs of a forced merger could be high.

He said: "We could be looking at council tax increases of 20 per cent or more just to stay where we are."

Sussex and other authorities prefer forging closer links with other forces through a federal police service.

Mr Jones paid tribute to Ken Jones who has now taken up the post of president of the Association of Chief Police Officers of England and Wales.