A bungalow left to fall into dereliction for almost 20 years may be pulled down if its corporate owners decide against refurbishing it.

Jeanne Chase lives in the other half of the pair of semi-detached houses on the coast road in Peacehaven.

She is disabled and her daughter and son-in-law want her to move to a bungalow near them.

But the dilapidated state of the property next door, which is owned by petrol firm Total, has brought the value of her house down by between five and ten thousand pounds.

The house is standing empty at a time when Sussex is suffering from a major housing shortage.

Son-in-law Jim Haughey said: "They are just leaving it to rot and it's pulling down the price of Jeanne's house - £10,000 can make a lot of difference."

Mrs Chase, who is in her late 70s, said: "It was occupied for a few years but no one has lived there for about 20 years.

"People have often enquired about it but no-one has ever been able to buy it. I can't understand why it has just been left to rot."

The houses were built by her brother-in-law, Cyril Forward, in 1956.

He owned the adjacent garage, which was bought by Total in 1973.

Mrs Chase's parents lived in the now derelict house while she lived with her husband in the attached property.

Tom and Grace Garnell have lived directly behind the property for 25 years.

They are greeted by the sight of the boarded-up house and its overgrown, weed-filled back garden every morning when they look out of their bedroom window.

Mrs Garnell said: "It is an eyesore but it's been there so long, we're used to it now. Judging by the amount of cats around, there must be vermin in there.

"People break in all the time. It's a bit worrying because you never know whether there's anyone in there or not."

Mr Garnell added: "We have complained to the council but they said there was nothing they could do because Total owned it."

Mrs Chase's neighbour, Carol Pickering, said: "My son chased two boys out of there the other day.

"I think it's a fire hazard. There could easily be a fire inside and nobody would know until it was too late."

A spokesman for Total said: "Because Total, Fina and Elf merged in the last three years, we have been concentrating on our 1,100 petrol stations.

"It's not a case of out of sight out of mind.

"We do have a surveyor coming to look at the property very shortly. We are reviewing whether we should refurbish it and let it, sell it or, subject to planning consent, demolish it.

"We would expect to finalise our proposals within the next three months."