Housing benefit costs local and national taxpayers in Brighton and Hove millions of pounds a year.

But it's still not enough to meet the need in a city with soaring house prices, high unemployment and low wages.

That's why the city council is making an urgent plea to the Government, through its three MPs, for help in tackling the crisis.

The trouble with housing benefit in Brighton and Hove is that it is set too low to cover the cost of most private rents in the city.

Families who cannot get anywhere to rent then have to present themselves to the city council as being homeless.

Their numbers are growing week by week. The cost in human misery is great. The cost to the council budget is huge.

Many single people end up in grotty bedsitters, or even on the streets. Their plight is even greater.

The taxpayer still has to pay for these homeless people as they enter hostels or temporary bedsitters.

The cost is even greater than housing benefit.

Housing benefit is by no means the ideal way of dealing with the crisis. The flats and bedsitters it supports are often far from ideal.

But at least it keeps people in their homes at reasonable cost. The alternative is the sort of homeless crisis which is threatening to get out of control in Brighton and Hove.