Council housing waiting lists in the Bristol area could be halved if Government built on unused land and empty houses were brought back into use, the Lib Dems have said.

The number of families languishing on council house waiting lists in some parts of the area have rocketed since 1997 with Bath and North East Somerset's list rising by 2,835 to 5,435 and North Somerset's by 2,405 to 5,796.

Bristol's remained steady, with a small decrease of 356 to 10,106, while South Gloucestershire bucked the national trend by reporting a dramatic fall of 1,936 to 4,874.

At their party conference in Bournemouth yesterday the Liberal Democrats used the figures to accuse Labour of failing vulnerable families.

Housing spokesman Sarah Teather said: "Labour should be ashamed that waiting lists have as much as doubled in some areas. It is a disgrace that so many families are forced to wait for social housing whilst so many potentially good homes lie unoccupied.

"With many fighting against repossession we urgently need to replenish stocks of social housing."

The party want 800,000 empty houses, including 70,000 in the South West to be brought into use, and for Government to build new housing on all surplus land they own.

The party claims its proposals would provide 930,000 extra homes – halving the current 1.77 million families on council housing waiting lists in England.