Home owners could be sued by their council for not redecorating.

A quarter of households on Hove's Brunswick Estate face prosecution unless they splash out on expensive materials to repaint their homes.

The cost of the work, which must be carried out every five years, can stretch to tens of thousands of pounds.

Brighton and Hove City Council is required to enforce the repainting scheme in line with the Hove Borough Council Act 1976, designed to preserve “uniformity in the exterior of buildings in Brunswick Square, Brunswick Terrace and part of Brunswick Place”.

Environment cabinet member Geoffrey Theobald has now told council officers to begin prosecution proceedings against 28 owners whose properties breach the strict guidelines.