BOLTON is running out of council houses following a dramatic rise in the number of people on the waiting list, a local MP has warned.

It has soared from 5,000 to 20,000 in just 10 years. Dr Brian Iddon, MP for Bolton South-east, says Bolton is now in the grip of a housing crisis.

He has called on the Commons for action to ease the problem.

He wants the Government to suspend the rights of all council tenants in Bolton to buy their homes - or embark on a major scheme to build council houses in the town.

New council houses have not been built in the town for more than 20 years.

And it is believed that 25 per cent of the borough's 24,600 council homes have been bought by tenants since the right-to-buy scheme was introduced to allow council tenants to buy their homes at a discount.

Dr Iddon says there must be enough council houses available for those who cannot afford to buy or rent privately.

He said: "We are not building our way out of this problem and are facing a real shortage of homes.

"I am not attacking tenants who are buying their council home.

"But people need to realise that there may not be council properties available for their children and grandchildren if they are on a limited budget and need somewhere to live in the future "The pre-war days of couples with babies living with their parents because they have no other choice could soon be here again."

Dr Iddon says if the Government will not not suspend sales of council houses, councils should be given cash to build more.

He has called a special debate in the House of Commons today to highlight the issue.

Dr Iddon, who chaired Bolton Council's housing committee from 1986 to 1996, said: "There is a real crisis in housing not just here in Bolton but across the country and something needs to be done."

The Right to Buy scheme was first introduced by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Government in 1979 when all council tenants were given the right to buy their council homes at a discount.

Dr Iddon believes that the problem has been exacerbated by landlords buying up former council homes from their private owners and re-letting them with inflated rents.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, has the power to suspend tenants' rights to buy their homes in areas it feels there is a housing shortage.

Councillor David Wilkinson, the executive member with responsibility for housing on Bolton Council, agreed that Bolton is in the midst of a housing crisis.

He said that it was not uncommon for up to 100 families to apply for homes which become available.

Cllr Wilkinson said: "The housing shortage is becoming more and more of a problem every day.

"We have some horrendous, heart-breaking situations where families are sleeping on the floors of friends' homes."

But he said he did not want to see the Right to Buy scheme abandoned.

"I do not think we should turn the clock back 20 years and abandon Right to Buy," he added. "We need to build new council homes but the Government is opposed to this and is not prepared to give us the money we need."