Home owners are missing out on £85 million a year under a Government drive to transfer money from the South to the Midlands and the North.

The shocking new figures revealed in a national league table provoked fury among Sussex councillors.

County leaders believe householders in the area could face cuts in services because local taxes are being used to distribute wealth around the country.

They say council tax could be reduced by a quarter if the allocation distributed across the county was raised to the national average.

The league table lists the amount each of the 34 county councils around the country have been allocated from Westminster for formula grants for general services and specific grants, which are earmarked for services such as social care and adult learning.

It shows West Sussex County Council receives £535 million a year, which works out at just £694 per head of population - nearly £200 less than the national average.

East Sussex County Council receives £403 million in total - £793 a person - also below the national average of £881. Northern county Durham, meanwhile, receives a total of £498 million, which works out at £998 a person, and its neighbour Lancashire gets £1,026 million - £887 a person.

The difference between West Sussex and the average grant given works out at £85 million a year.

The discrepancy means Sussex authorities, which are already struggling to provide adequate social care for their large elderly populations, will be left with the difficult decision of whether to cut services or increase council tax.

The average Band D council taxpayer in Worthing already pays £1,303 a year, £60 more than last year. Ten years ago they would have paid £654.

Robbie Green, who works at Kim's Bookshop, in Crescent Road, Worthing, said: "It doesn't seem fair that people paying so much council tax don't get a more equal allocation of grants.

"There are so many people living in the South-East who need these services and there's a lot of shortages going around already, especially in healthcare and at the hospital.

"I know they need the money up North where there are a lot of problems but we need it down here too.

"There are so many people moving to the South-East and we are so crowded we are in desperate need too."

Councillors and MPs have vowed to lobby the Government until the situation improves.

Council leader Henry Smith said he had sent the table to West Sussex MPs and was preparing for a fight.

Mr Smith said: "West Sussex County Council has always received a relatively low grant support from the Government but the position has become worse in recent years.

"It is grossly unfair and I am sure our MPs will help us to continue lobbying and expressing our concerns at the very highest level."

West Sussex County Councillor Steve Waight added: "The statistics show that if our county area was funded as well as only the average county we would be receiving an extra £85 million in grants to improve services or reduce the council tax burden.

"The figures clearly prove what we have been telling residents for years.

Government support for local councils is being cut in our part of the world and the money is being sent to the North and the Midlands."

Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, said he was keen to join the fight. He said: "It is the same old story where the South-East counties and West Sussex in particular are short-changed by the way central Government works out how much councils should get.

"The methods of dividing up the cash don't recognise the needs of the elderly population and that we do have areas of deprivation in Worthing, Adur and Crawley.

"But we always lose out to other parts of the UK such as Manchester where the Labour strongholds are.

"These figures just reiterate the trend. We have raised the issue a couple of times at Westminster and will continue to do so."