RESIDENTS of a crumbling estate formed a protest committee to demand answers from the council after an MPs sleepover inspired them to take action. The Forgotten Village was launched on Monday afternoon (August 10) by a group of Goresbrook Village res

RESIDENTS of a crumbling estate formed a protest committee to demand answers from the council after an 'MPs sleepover' inspired them to take action.

The Forgotten Village was launched on Monday afternoon (August 10) by a group of Goresbrook Village residents and Mark Oaten, MP for Winchester, who swapped his leafy Hampshire constituency for the roar of the A13 and mouldy bathrooms for a week as part of a media project.

Television crews joined Sloane Warbrick, 27, Candy Samuels, 49, Steven Mizen, 23, and Alan Jones, and many other residents for the protest, while they talked about indoor floods, damp, loose window frames, urine and excrement on the stairwells, frequent lift breakdowns and fire safety issues.

Sloane, who has five young children, said residents needed to know if the council was planning to tear the buildings down or refurbish them.

She said: "I can't make plans when I don't know where I'm going to be.

"We deserve better and our voices should be heard."

MP Mark Oaten said: "It's been an extraordinary experience. I'm exhausted - I have seen mould in kitchens, in bathrooms, I have been sleeping on different sofas.

"It has been a rollercoaster in terms of emotions."

A council spokesperson said: "Goresbrook Village is one of the areas being examined as a possible redevelopment project for the council's new Local Housing Company.

"Because of the recession the council is reviewing the options available for improving our housing stock, including Goresbrook Village. This report will be put before the executive by the end of September.