Residents fear a rat invasion after fly-tippers turned a private cul-de-sac into a dumping ground.

Rubbish regularly left outside a row of privately-owned garages behind Chichester Close in Hove includes large quantities of builders' waste.

Residents say they are tired of opening their doors to the growing rubbish mountain and having views like something from "a war zone".

Many of the 30 garages have doors ripped from their hinges, locks torn off and holes in the roof.

Rubbish litters the area, including old washing machines and cookers, tyres, carpet, furniture, mattresses, a bathroom suite, car parts - and even part of an old boat.

Residents have reported sightings of rats and mice in their gardens and the dilapidated state of many of the garages has left some fearing an accident.

With little trace of many of the garage owners, residents have fought a losing battle. One desperate neighbour wrote a message on a vandalised door asking the owner to keep it shut or take the rubbish to the tip. Another wrote the registration number of a van they spotted dumping its load.

The garages used to belong to the Sussex Police Authority but were sold off several years ago.

North Hangleton Residents Association and Councillors Peter Willows and Brian Fitch have taken up the case and are begging Brighton and Hove City Council to take action.

Coun Willows said: "These people have complained for years and it has got worse. They are sick to death of it. It looks like a scene from Baghdad and people are frightened to go up there.

"I'm pleading with the council. I know it's not their responsibility because the road is privately owned but I feel they have an obligation to the residents. If they could just send a couple of skips up here and load up the rubbish."

Coun Fitch said: "It is the most horrendous scene. About eight of the garages are filled with car wrecks, rubble, toilets, the lot.

"Our first aim is to get the council to clear it up and make it safe. There are broken asbestos roofs which children could climb through and have an accident.

"The second phase is to contact the owners and get some sort of fence to stop this consistent dumping, a lot of which seems to be by tradespeople.

"We are looking through lists of owners at the moment. With ownership goes responsibility and we as a council will have to ensure these obligations are met."

The council's environmental health department has inspected the site and classified most of the waste as builder's rubbish, which would be unlikely to attract rats.

A spokeswoman said: "It is not a health emergency problem but we are now in the process of contact the owners to warn them we will prosecute if they do not remove the rubbish and take responsibility to ensure it doesn't happen again."