Architecture students have come up with a novel way to beat the housing shortage and shrink rubbish mountains - building homes out of junk.

The University of Brighton students have been scouring recycling sites, scrap yards and charity shops as well as stockpiling the contents of their own bins for the project.

The 52 students spent two weeks at the Industrial Centre, Hove, constructing either complete buildings or sections of walls.

And the 21st Century Wombles are so proud of the constructions they have created from bottles, scrap metal, old planks, foam and tin cans they are staging an exhibition.

While some of the sculptures might look a little on the shaky side, they are convinced their efforts could be put to practical use.

Tom Lacey, 19, built a cabin with old timber.

He said: "I was trying to make something fun. It is the ultimate waste house. It is about trying to provide habitual things out of anything."

Jo Hatwell and Rob Harrington, both 19, searched charity shops for their construction called Does My Bum Look Big in This? The clothes are sewn on to duvets stretched across two frames.

Rob said: "We have taken waste materials and turned them into something beautiful. Everything can be reused."

David Sibley, 19, built a section of a garden fence using reinforced concrete mesh and metal.

He said: "When buildings are knocked down there is a lot of reinforced mesh from concrete. I thought it could be used again."

The students said their ideas could be used in real-life buildings, pointing to the shanty towns of Brazil where people use rubbish to build homes and buildings in North America which use laminated waste paper in the construction. Their ideas will be put to the test when they help design buildings for a city farm in Sheepcote Valley.

Tutor Duncan Baker-Brown, who also works for BBM Sustainable Design, which is involved with the city farm project, said there was a lot to learn about reducing landfill rubbish and burned waste.

He said: "We have got to be more aware of how much we throw away. The construction industry is hugely wasteful."

The exhibition, called The Given, The Twisted and The Broken, can be seen at Industrial House, Conway Street, Hove, tomorrow from 5.30pm to 8pm.