No one trying to find nursing home beds in Brighton and Hove will be surprised at the findings of a survey by Which? magazine.

It put the city at the bottom of a table for bed availability along with Bristol after a phone survey.

Not along ago, Brighton and Hove was trying to limit the number of care homes and rid itself the Costa Geriatrica tag.

Now the city needs more nursing homes, particularly to house patients from hospital and stop bed-blocking.

Councils such as Brighton and Hove need to pay more for the beds to encourage proprietors to stay in business rather than selling their homes for private housing.

The Government needs to encourage this through financial aid, both to the council and to homes owners drowning in a sea of red tape.