Over 160 families with children in West Dunbartonshire have been stuck in "temporary" accommodation for more than six months, new figures reveal.

The data, revealed after a question posed in Holyrood by Labour on September 5, shows 165 households with kids across the local authority have been unable to move on from their supposed interim housing for over half a year.

Of these, 35 have been left without a permanent home for at least 12 months.

Now, West of Scotland MSP Katy Clark has slammed the Scottish Government, branding their housing strategy a "failure".

The Labour MSP said: “It is appalling that homelessness continues to blight communities in this day and age.

"It is particularly devastating to know there are families spending over a year waiting for a home in West Dunbartonshire.

“Children deserve the best start in life, yet so many are being left in limbo.

"Despite this, the Scottish Government continues to cut local government budgets and its support for delivery of new social housing does not remotely reach the scale required.

“There should not be a single child in Scotland facing such long waits to find a stable home.

"The Scottish Government must step up, take action and deliver an emergency social housing strategy.”

Across Scotland, 6,135 Scottish households with children have been stuck in temporary accommodation for over one year.

It comes just weeks after data showed the number of local authority new builds in Scotland has dropped by 23 per cent in a year, despite record levels of homelessness.