A family of four living in a damp-ridden house were told by council officials to open their windows to solve the problem - in the middle of winter.

Jennifer McDade, of Tavistock Down, Hollingdean, Brighton, says the conditions in her home mean her children are often ill resulting in them missing school.

Mrs McDade, 33, pleaded with Brighton and Hove City Council to do something about the problem in the house she shares with husband Michael, 53, and their children, Billy, two, Shania, six, and Chelsea, 10.

But when a workman finally came to look at the damp the family was told to just open the windows to increase circulation in the property.

A council spokesman said the family had been given a ventilator to reduce the problem and confirmed the McDades had been told to open windows to stop mould growing.