Families have complained they are being offered squalid accommodation in sub-standard properties to get them off the housing list.

On Saturday The Argus reported how young mother Danielle Reast spent almost a week with no electricity, heating or hot water after being moved into one of Brighton and Hove's 1,800 empty houses.

The property also had a catalogue of unfinished building jobs.

Brighton and Hove City Council says no property is let before being brought up to minimum legal standards.

But Ms Reast's complaints were echoed today by other women who said their accommodation was virtually uninhabitable.

Laura Parsons told The Argus she felt forced into taking a house in Godwin Road, Hangleton.

She said she found hypodermic needles in the garden.

Meanwhile Sue Goodchild, who moved two months ago into a home in Bevendean Crescent, Moulsecoomb, said she was waiting for the council to remove asbestos and broken glass from the garden.

Ms Reast, 22, arrived at her home in Newick Road, Moulsecoomb, last Monday. It needed a new boiler and had inch-wide gaps around the windows, a sink that was hanging off the wall, layers of dust and chalk throughout the house and a garden full of rubbish.

There was a problem with the electricity meter which meant Ms Reast, her two-year-old son and her 11-month-old daughter spent most of the week without power. The children stayed with other family members when they became too cold.

The Argus highlighted Ms Reast's plight to the council and British Gas last week.

The utility firm arranged for her power to be turned on and yesterday council workers repaired the sink, windows and broken door, and cleared the garden, which had been used as a dumping ground for unwanted furniture.

Tomorrow contractors will begin to install a new boiler.

But Mrs Goodchild, 37, said she had received no such service.

She said her children, aged four, five, nine and 15, were not able to use their garden because it was full of rubbish and there was no fence to prevent them from climbing out.

She said: "It is full of glass and there are bits of asbestos.

"They promised to clean it before we moved in. We have had a motorbike stolen because there is no fence.

"My kids can't play in the garden because it is disgusting."

Mrs Goodchild was on the waiting list for eight years before her family moved from their two-bedroom home in Patcham.

Ms Parsons, currently of Gleton Avenue, Hangleton, has been on the list for five years.

She does not want to take the home in Godwin Road but has been told she will not be offered another property.

The home was featured on the front page of The Argus last week in a story on Brighton and Hove's empty properties, about a tenth of which belong to the council.

Ms Parsons, 23, who has a daughter aged five and two children under two, said: "The garden's terrible. It was used for drugs. We have found needles there.

"The back windows are nailed down, there is damp in the front room and it is smaller than my current home.

"There is rubbish everywhere and the bricks are falling down at the front.

"I just want somewhere my kids can live. I feel I am being bullied into taking it."

A spokesman for the council said: "The majority of people are happy with the property they've been given and haven't experienced any problems. Properties cannot be let until they meet the standard criteria."

He said there was no asbestos in Mrs Goodchild's home when a surveyor visited less than two weeks ago but said her complaint would be investigated.

He said Mrs Parsons had previously turned down a property and the new one was larger than her current home.

He said the garden had been cleared yesterday and the window had been nailed down while the property was empty.

He admitted some repointing work was needed at the front of the house but said it was not urgent. He said the damp the tenant had complained about was drying mortar work.

He added: "We are glad to hear the problems at Newick Road have been dealt with and Mrs Reast is now happy with her home.

"The council is carrying out a lot of extensive work to bring empty houses up to standard and provide people with a decent place to live.

"The council is pleased this was brought to our attention and we were able to resolve matters successfully."