A 63-year-old man lay undiscovered in his flat for as long as two months after his death. How could this happen?

Where were the friends, family and neighbours who should have known what was happening? And was Brighton and Hove's increasingly transient population really to blame?

ANDY CHILES reports.

Peter Kiff was not the first person whose death has gone unnoticed in Brighton and Hove.

His decomposing body was discovered on January 3, less than three months after police arrived at a Hove flat and found Herta Sheen still going about her life while her husband Patrick sat dead on the settee.

It was believed his death had also gone undiscovered for four weeks.

The two cases have raised many questions and brought home some awkward and embarrassing truths about the county we live in.

It is no secret that modern society is not the same as it was just three decades ago but the extent to which people can now live their lives alone, without even any contact with their neighbours, is alarming.

The reason Peter Kiff and Patrick Sheen were undiscovered for so long was because there was no one checking on them, no one keeping an eye out for them and no one pursuing the traditional role of the good neighbour.

Professor Sue Balloch, an expert in health and social care at the University of Brighton, said: "These situations are increasingly common, especially in an area like Brighton and Hove where the population is so transient.

"People move into and out of the city so frequently and lead such busy lives that they never really get to know their neighbours."

In some parts of the city, such as Kemp Town, as much as half the population changes each year, making it next to impossible for the neighbourly relations traditionally built over 30 or 40 years. People are rarely willing to put their trust in others who come and go so frequently.

Prof Balloch said: "Lots of things contribute to it. We've lost many of the faith groups which held communities together, provided a focal point and looked after the more vulnerable members. The population in Brighton is quite young as well and does not spend as much time involved in the community."

She added that it was not just a local problem.

She said: "I've just moved into one of the Sussex villages and it's completely different there. People pop around to say hello and see how you are. There is a tangible sense of community which you don't really have in the city."

It is not just the loss of traditional neighbourly relations which lead to situations like Mr Kiff's.

There has been a change in living conditions too.

Prof Balloch said: "The number of people who live alone is higher than it has ever been, for several reasons.

"People are living longer, there are more divorces and there is more mobility. Where once families would tend to stay in the same area, it is now much more common for them to split apart.

"That means some people may not have visits from their families for several months at a time."

Mr Kiff appeared not to have had anyone make contact with him throughout the Christmas period, when he was apparently dead in his housing association flat in Gloucester Place, Brighton.

Prof Balloch said: "It is a problem with modern society and solutions are difficult.

"The number of people living alone in the UK is among the highest in Europe.

"There are examples of potentially better ways of doing things. In Japan, for example, most families have their elderly relatives living with them, which means they are much better cared for. We could certainly learn from that."

Attempts are already being made to address the situation in Brighton and Hove.

Sean de Podestra runs the Neighbourhood Care Scheme, where people volunteer to make regular visits to elderly or vulnerble people living on their own.

He said: "It is not always easy.

Some people deliberately isolate themselves and are hard to reach.

Others don't want to be alone.

"It is a simple idea but it works well. Quite often people do feel a strong sense of family or neighbourliness but they can't fulfil it because their own relatives live a long way away.

"They can go some way to making up for it by looking out for someone else."

Mr de Podestra agreed that Brighton's society did not naturally support vulnerable people any more.

He said: "The way we live is not conducive to it.

"People are so busy they often don't even see their neighbours, so it is not surprising they don't notice when they are not around."

He said his group was always looking for more volunteers.

Anyone interested in helping should call 01273 775888 or visit ncs.bhci.org.

Do you think a caring society is possible in modern Sussex?