A family of eight living in a one bedroom flat are begging the council for a new home.

Maggie Flisher, 26, her 30-year-old husband Gavin and their six children are living a cramped existence squeezed into the four-room property in Park Wood, Maidstone.

But Maidstone council has said she cannot bid to move to a three-bed home, because they would still be overcrowded.

Instead, she must wait for the council's rare four or more bed properties to become available.

So when it comes to bedtime, Lacieann, eight, Elektra, six, and five-year-old Gavinjunior sleep in the only bedroom, while two-year-old Lilyrose and Maggie bed down on a sofabed in the sitting room.

With three-month-old twins Martinjames and Paris Nicola in their Moses basket, unemployed dad Gavin kips wherever he can find space.

Their Brishing Lane home is so crowded the family pay to keep many of the children's toys in storage.

Mrs Flisher, who has six siblings, said she had not intended to have so many children - but had been let down time and time again by various different contraceptions.

She has even asked to be sterilised, but doctors refused, saying she was too young.

Now the hard-working mum, who moved into the property alone in 2003, says she fights a never-ending battle trying to keep the home clean and tidy.

"The four-bed homes are like gold dust," she said. "I've been told I'm a main priority but then they are given to someone else.

"I have been in this circle for three, nearly four years now. I have been doing all that I can but I've got nowhere."

The couple were initially told they would be rehoused in 2005 after Lacieann was born and again in 2006 following Elektra's arrival.

But after Lilyrose's birth, the ban on bidding for three-bed properties was in force.

Mrs Flisher's midwife, health visitor and even MP Hugh Robertson have all written to the authorities about the family's plight.

The family have also instructed a solicitor, but changes in legal aid this year meant any action had to be abandoned.

In the meantime, she has asked to put a second set of bunk beds in the bedroom so all four older children could sleep there, but has been told this would be a fire hazard.

Perched on the sofa in the cluttered sitting room, Mrs Flisher said she has considered throwing out her cabinet, which holds treasured ornaments and photos, to make way for a bed.

There is no table and no room for the family to eat in the kitchen.

But Mrs Flisher said: "It doesn't get me down because I'm used to it now. It's hard because the children are always fighting. My Lacieann says 'I want my own room' and Gavinjunior is fed up with having a pink and yellow room – he wants a blue one."

The family say they are prepared to move elsewhere in Maidstone and would take the older children out of Tree Tops Academy, which is across the road from their home, if necessary.

"Lacieann says 'I want my own room' and Gavinjunior is fed up with having a pink and yellow room – he wants a blue one..." - Maggie Flisher

She said: "I don't care where it is as long as I can get a move."

A Maidstone council spokesman said: "Housing associations do not accept nominations for houses where applicants would be classed as overcrowded so applicants with a four-bed need are advised not to bid on three-bed houses.

"Social housing is scarce and bids made through the Kent Homechoice website are considered by the waiting time on the housing register.

"Where families have a need for large homes, they are offered support with looking for a house in the private sector and given information on a mutual exchange swap."

Maidstone council said it did not have property figures. Social housing provider Golding Homes has 176 four bed homes, one five-bed home and six-bed home on its books. All are occupied.