Sussex is one of the most crowded counties in Britain and there is an acute shortage of housing.

Yet there are thousands of empty houses and some of them have been derelict for many years.

Last week, The Argus revealed a town centre property in Worthing which had been vacant for decades.

Today we highlight the case of a home in Peacehaven which has been derelict for almost 20 years.

In this case, it seems that the owners, a garage firm, half forgot about it while concentrating on the commercial aspects of its business.

This may be understandable but the derelict house could have provided someone with a decent home during all those years.

It has also caused problems for immediate neighbours and knocked down the value of their home.

People who own these houses may be persuaded to do something about them if the Government allows local authorities to charge full council tax on them.

But the Government should also give councils stronger powers than they currently possess to make owners put them to good use.

It's wrong that, when thousands of people are homeless or living in poor conditions, there should be so many empty homes.