Hundreds of families are being forced into accommodation for the homeless as a result of rising rents and house prices.

Homeless charity Shelter has put together a list of how many families, couples and individuals are in temporary accommodation in towns across East and West Sussex.

In the South-East the number of households being put up in temporary accommodation has risen 75 per cent between 1997 and 2006, from 6,370 to 11,000.

Brighton and Hove tops the list with 541 households forced into temporary accommodation, followed by Crawley with 418 and Hastings with 216.

There were 145 in both Worthing and Eastbourne, 90 in Lewes, 45 in Horsham and 42 in Chichester.

The report, based on research by the Department for Communities and Local Government, shows that 40 per cent of the people applying for temporary accommodation became homeless after friends or family asked them to move out.

Another 17 per cent became homeless after their relationships broke up, and half of these cases involved domestic violence. Around 16 per cent of people had been evicted by private landlords.

Shelter is now calling on councils to increase the amount of social housing they build.

The charity's director Adam Sampson said: "Many ordinary families can no longer afford to buy or even rent at today's prices yet there simply aren't enough social-rented homes to provide a safety net for those in the greatest need."