Residents have spoken out against ‘deteriorating’ living conditions in one of Blackburn’s town centre apartment blocks.

Newspaper House, off Railway Road, was renovated in 2017 and now houses 67 flats across five floors, including a basement, in offices formerly home to the Lancashire Telegraph.

In recent months, tenants have said living at the site had become a ‘nightmare’ and people feared for their safety at night.

However, the property's management company has said the ‘property is thoroughly checked weekly, any concerns are reported back to us as landlord and action accordingly’. 

It said regular checks were made on the site and forwarded evidence from a cleaning company which detailed spotless corridors and stairwells.

Residents said one of the most pressing concerns was a constantly malfunctioning lift, which had been out of order for more than six weeks, and a broken front door.

On a site visit by a Lancashire Telegraph reporter, a family with two young children was seen preparing to carry their toddlers and a pram up the flights of stairs due to the problem. 

A back door was also broken and there was evidence of drug use in a loading bay area. A roof had also caved in at the back of the site.

Residents also said the wi-fi in the building, which was included in their billing, had been off for several weeks.

Pictures had been sent of bin bags stacked in a corner from March, but on inspection, this area was reasonably well maintained.

One tenant, who did not wish to be named, said: “The main entrance and the back doors of Newspaper House are frequently broken, allowing unauthorised access by homeless individuals and non-residents, posing significant security risks.

"Despite multiple reports to the property managers, repairs consistently take over a month to resolve.”

A sign at the front door says the property is now managed by Lambert Smith Hampton Residential.

Residents were contacted earlier this month to announce HLM Property Management was rebranding to Lambert Smith Hampton Residential.

Tenants said that monthly rents at Newspaper House start from £575, and rise to £700 plus utility bills.

Council tax is paid separately and on average people were paying around £100 a month.

A service charge of £50 is also charged to cover maintenance of communal areas. The apartments are fully furnished rooms and include kitchen facilities.

The property company sent 55 images of an inspection from July 22 from a cleaning company which is tasked with keeping the area clean

Residents said the latest incident of the front door being broken occurred on June 30, and the door was still broken on July 19. The property company said this door has now been fixed.

The resident added: “Unfortunately, residents have become accustomed to these delays, with such critical issues taking a significant time to resolve. 

“Additionally, the building frequently gets vandalised, and there have been incidents where non-residents have attempted to break into flats.

“Communication with a representative from Lambert Smith Hampton Residential is significantly challenging."

One resident showed these images  of several incidents of anti-social behaviour and damage from the past 12 months.

The resident said: “Correspondence via phone and email frequently goes unaddressed, and when a response is received, it is characterised by unprofessionalism, with persistent issues remaining unresolved. 

“The resolution of basic maintenance concerns takes over a month to address, causing unnecessary inconvenience and discomfort for residents.”

Another resident said: “The lift has been out of service for over a month, creating severe difficulties for residents, especially those on higher floors. 

“With the number of people living here, there is only one lift. If that is broken it causes major issues.

"We shouldn't really have to keep complaining like this. You have a lot of professionals and health care workers living here."

A further resident said: “People might say why don’t you move out but there isn’t anywhere else in the town centre area to live.

“There really are no other flats in the area at the moment."