A man who has endured months of misery from a flea infestation is praying his torment will soon end.

Marcus Maclaine has been getting just a few hours' sleep a night thanks to the parasites in his council flat in Newick Road, Brighton.

The flat below Mr Maclaine's is empty but Brighton and Hove City Council accepts there has been a flea problem and has agreed to fumigate it.

However, despite Mr Maclaine asking to be rehomed while the infestation is cleared, housing officers have refused.

Mr Maclaine, who suffers from the skin complaint psoriasis, said the nightmare began in July when the resident from the flat below moved out.

He said he thought fleas belonging to the former tenant's cat had multiplied during the summer and, finding nothing to eat in the empty flat, got up through a vent to his home.

Mr Maclaine, 40, said: "I told the council I am being driven insane. You can feel these things crawling all over you. Friends will not come to visit any more because it's so bad.

"My dogs are probably better off than me because they've got flea collars.

"I have been getting very little sleep every night. I asked the council to rehome me but they wouldn't because they said they were addressing the problem."

He said his psoriasis was made worse by the fleas and his body was covered in red patches.

Mr Maclaine said the lower flat was cleared by council staff last week and he was hoping it would be fumigated soon.

He said he would then be able to arrange for pest controllers to come to his flat but it could take a month to get rid of the fleas.

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said contractors were due to fumigate the lower flat on Monday but rubbish needed clearing first and the skirting boards had to be lifted.

He said: "We don't actually think this will cure his problem as it's quite possible his dogs are bringing fleas in, in which case, he needs to call pest control.

"We're not moving him as fleas aren't grounds for rehoming people. The policy is to remove fleas rather than the tenants."