A BLACKBURN estate has been segregated by a "ghetto fence", it was claimed by residents on one side who said they had been "left to rot."

Residents said the 8ft-high fence that divides Ashworth Close split the community in two - with a redeveloped section on one side and the 1970s homes on the other.

It comes after residents were told in June that the multi-million pound project to re-vamp the Ashworth Street estate would be left half finished for years.

But bosses at Twin Valley Homes, which runs much of the estate, said the fence was part of the remodelling of the estate and was designed to make it a safer place to live.

The fence runs between houses 23 and 25 and the land that was once a path in front of 25, 27, and 29 has been used to give those houses gardens.

Around £4.5 million is being designated to phase one of the Ashworth Street Estate redevelopment and had been funded with money from Elevate, a housing renewal body.

Bosses at the council, which administers the money, said in June that the scheme was part of the 15-year housing market renewal scheme and cash was needed elsewhere in the borough.

It was pledged that the work would be done eventually, just not this year as originally planned.

Peter Newton, 63, of Ashworth Close, said: "They have effectively cut us off and left us in our half to deteriorate.

"It adds insult to injury after we were told that phase two is going to have to wait.".

Eddie Duxbury, of Arthur Way, added: "Phase one is almost finished and phase two is getting nothing."

He said he felt like the fence was being used to separate the ghetto from the improved area.

William Biggs, 80, of Ashworth Close, said they were being blocked off from the nice side.

Coun Mohammed Khan, executive member for housing and neighbourhoods who also represents the ward, said: "The council is satisfied that the re-modelling work currently being done by Twin Valley Homes does not segregate the area.

"The design means that pedestrians using this part of the Ashworth Street estate will benefit from increased levels of natural surveillance and more community safety."

Kevin Ruth, Executive Director of Twin Valley Homes, said: "This is not segregation by any means, it's a boundary fence enclosing newly created gardens for homes re-modelled as part of the development.