A family has been banned from keeping pets for four years after allowing animals to live in "appalling" conditions.

Six dogs, five cats, five horses and a parrot lived in their own filth in what an RSPCA inspector called one of the dirtiest homes he had ever seen.

Many were suffering from severe eye infections, fleas and other illnesses, while the parrot was trapped in a filthy cage, when the inspector found them.

Inspector Tony Pritchard said: "The conditions were appalling. When you walked through the front door, the smell was pretty strong. It was really disgusting.

"There was dog and cat mess throughout the house. These poor animals were living in filth and rubbish. They were infested with fleas to a ridiculous degree."

Pet owners Sheila Hocking, 64, and her children Richard, 29, and Rosetta, 25, were fined £250 each by Worthing magistrates after being found guilty of 27 charges of causing unnecessary suffering.

The neglected pets were rescued from their home in New Road, Shoreham, when the RSPCA received complaints about the smell and reports the animals were being mistreated.

Mr Pritchard visited the house in July last year to find rubbish strewn across the floor.

Waste was stacked up so high, his head touched the ceiling as he tried to walk around.

The RSPCA made its first visit in 2005. When the inspector returned in 2006, he was barred from entering.

The animals were eventually seized and taken into care a year later.

Mr Pritchard said: "I was shocked when I returned at how bad it got since my last visit. The house had always been untidy but you could at least see the carpet. I don't think even people should be living like that but that's their choice. The animals don't have a choice."

Sheila Hocking had been living in an upstairs room filled with straw. Mr Pritchard described the conditions as "like living in an animal cage". Environmental health and social services have since been contacted.

The family told magistrates that things had got on top of them since one of Mrs Hocking's grandchildren, not living at the house, had fallen ill. They are appealing against the sentence.

The animals have been rehoused at RSPCA centres in Patcham, Brighton, and Mount Noddy, in Chichester.

An RSPCA spokeswoman said: "The animals have been recovering at the centres for some time and are making good progress. We will almost certainly be able to rehome them."