Teachers, nurses and police officers will have to wait a

further two months to see if a cheap housing scheme will be offered in Brighton.

The Government put aside £250 million for a Starter Homes Initiative last December to help key workers buy homes in areas where the cost of housing might otherwise price them out of the market.

A number of social landlords, such as housing associations, in the city applied to take part.

But the Government received bids totalling £830 million meaning many will be rejected.

Ministers threw out £250 million worth of bids on Wednesday, pushing the remainder on to a second "evaluation" stage.

The Department for Environment confirmed some bids from Brighton had been successful, but refused to say how many.

Names of the successful organisations would not be released until June.

Housing minister Bob Ainsworth said: "There is significant competition for funding, with the value of bids going through to stage two more than double the available budget.

"The majority of bidders are registered social landlords experienced in running low-cost home ownership schemes in areas of high demand.

"Bidders predominantly propose using interest-free equity loans or shared ownership to assist purchasing existing or newly-built properties.

"A few bidders propose cash grants."

The first schemes should be up and running in July.