The number of people on the waiting list to get a council property in Abingdon has more than doubled in the past year.

The number of people requesting a home in the town has risen from about 750 at the beginning of September 2004 to 1,637 this year.

The Vale of White Horse District Council said part of the increase was due to the introduction of a new waiting list system.

But with only 250 to 300 flats or houses becoming available each year, many people are in for a long wait.

The increase in demand for houses is thought to be due to rising rental costs and house prices, putting private sector homes out of people's reach.

Paul Staines, district council assistant housing director, said: "Demand far outstrips supply by about 10 to one, so it is not surprising under those sorts of circumstances people can't get the properties they want. People cannot afford the average house price of £174,000 in the district."

Paul Clarke, 40, who was born and grew up in Abingdon, has been on the waiting list for a property for six years and is being forced to live in a tent on Nag's Head Island.

He recently reached the top of the list for single men looking for properties and bid for a house in the town, but because he is deemed to be in the least needy category -- band B for single men -- he missed out.

He said: "I am very annoyed about it, I feel like I'm never going to have a home in the town I was born in."

Mr Clarke was offered a property in Faringdon, but refused it because he did not feel he would be able to get work there.

He said: "It's 19 miles away, there's no work and I have only got a push bike."

Mr Staines said: "We have spoken at length to him and explained that his chances of getting a property in Abingdon are very unlikely.

"I am sympathetic that he lives in a tent, but that was his choice for turning down a property in Faringdon.

"It is one sad and immediate example of a problem of a shortage of housing in the town."