MORE than 400 homes in the Forest have been empty for longer than six months, a recent government report has found.

According to official data published in November, there were a total of 442 long-term empty homes in the Forest of Dean in 2019, an increase of 18 from 2018 (424), while a large number of people wait for accommodation on the district council’s housing waiting list.

•To find out more read the full article in this week’s Forester newspaper.