An autistic teenager has been forced into a bed and breakfast after a mix-up by housing bosses.

Ricky Weblin, 14, had to leave his home in Hardwick Road, Hangleton with his mum Cheryl and seven-year-old brother Luke because bailiffs were coming to evict them.

Ricky suffers from Asperger syndrome, a form of autism.

Ms Weblin, 30, said: "Ricky has trouble with uncertainty and needs routine and the security of knowing what is happening.

"He runs away if anything different happens but I can't even reassure him where we are going to live because I don't know."

The family were assessed as a priority need by Brighton and Hove Council in September, after their landlord decided to sell the two-bedroom flat where they have lived for nearly two years.

The council contacted Chichester-based New Downland Housing Association to see if it was interested in buying the flat so the Weblins could stay, but the sale fell through because the house price was higher than the association was prepared to pay.

As the association and homeowner discussed the possible sale of the property, the council presumed the case had been dealt with.

A spokesman said: "We thought it was all going ahead until October 18 when we received a copy of the bailiffs' warrant. We have promised them the first temporary bungalow which becomes available and can't really do anymore than that."

But local councillor Mark Barnard believes the Weblins' case should still have been processed.

He said: "It seems everything came to a stop and that shouldn't have happened in view of the circumstances with Ms Weblin's son."

The family now face a three-week stay in a bed and breakfast and a move to a temporary bungalow before finally being allocated a new home.

Ms Weblin said: "Ricky's GP and psychologist have both said this situation is terrible for him."