A plan to advertise which of the hundreds of empty houses in Oxford belong to the city council has been rejected, because of concerns about the cost and fears it could attract squatters and vandals.

Oxford City Council's housing scrutiny committee suggested putting large signs -- similar to 'for sale' boards -- outside every empty property it owns, to ease frustration among those waiting for a council house.

But after members were told it could cost as much as £400,000 a year and would be an open invitation to squatters to break in, the idea has been dropped.

There are some 5,000 people on the city council's housing waiting list, but currently only 139 empty properties.

Although the time it takes to turn a home round from one tenant leaving to another moving in has fallen from 20 weeks in April to 13 weeks now, councillors fear progress could be hampered by flagging up empty properties.

Since April the council has missed out on £185,000 in rent from properties standing empty.

Martyn Mumford, the council's empty homes tsar, responsible for getting homes reoccupied as soon as possible, said: "If we put these signs up, then we might as well put up a neon sign saying 'come and have a go'.

"If we get squatters in, we cannot get them out without a court order -- and it takes up to six weeks even to get to court."

Not all vacant properties can simply be handed to new tenants. The council has to ensure its 8,000 homes meet the Government's Decent Homes Standard by 2010, which can mean carrying out major improvements.

In the past three weeks, three empty houses, which were boarded up, have been broken into and damaged. In Blackbird Leys children were thought to be responsible for breaking into a house and leaving taps running all weekend. The damage was discovered by chance the following Monday. The repairs will cost tens of thousands of pounds.

Mr Mumford added: "If a property is screened for a long period of time it's going to attract attention from undesirable people."

The council's housing team faces a uphill struggle to evict squatters from some houses because of the speed at which they break in. Mr Mumford put some of the blame down to a website which advertises the addresses of empty homes.

Northfield Brook councillor Carole Roberts supported the idea of putting up signs. She said: "I think it's a good idea we're asked why houses are empty -- this could help people understand not all the houses on estates are ours."