A married couple living in a one-room bedsit are angry that they have been left on the housing waiting list while a nearby property stands empty.

Peter and Elizabeth Collett have been living, sleeping, cooking and eating in one small room in Peat Moors, in Headington, Oxford, since they got married over a year ago.

Although a neighbouring one-bedroom flat has been empty for several months, they have been told it will go to a mother and child who is above them on Oxford City Council's housing list.

Their present home consists of a bathroom and one main room which Mr Collett said measured 13ft by 12ft. Mr Collett, 70, said: "When we eat, my wife sits on the bed to eat hers and I sit on the settee - we have no table or anything."

The couple are keen to stay in the same area and have refused the option of moving to a larger estate such as Wood Farm or Rose Hill. Mr Collett said: "I told the council there was no way we were moving up there with all the drug problems and the antisocial behaviour."

The city council currently has 5,000 people waiting for housing, while only an average of 500 properties become vacant each year.

Anyone who wants to hold out for a property in a particular area they like or where their friends and family live will find themselves waiting much longer for a home.

But Liberal Democrat city councillor Patrick Murray, executive member for Improving Housing, said a new system called 'Choice Based Lettings' could help people like Mr Collett when it was introduced in October next year. The Government's choice system will mean everyone on the waiting list can bid for an empty property, with the highest bidder - still based on need - winning.