A HUSBAND and wife claim their dreams of a quiet life are being dashed by a failure to renovate a nearby ‘slum’.

Averil Mitchell, 67, and husband John, 70, claim that New Wellington Street, Mill Hill, Blackburn, is being blighted by the presence of a former cafe that has stood derelict for more almost two decades.

The couple own a hairdressers in the terraced street which they rent out, but the former cafe stands next door to their property and they claim it is making their shop look bad.

And their calls for help have been back by local councillors who said the property was a “blight on the area.”

Mrs Mitchell said: “Nearly 12 years ago there was a fire that spread through the street after squatters started it in one of the other houses.

“Because the shop next to us was derelict and the owner could not be traced it took 12 months for us to get our shop fixed after the fire.

“We have been told that the former owner has been traced so why can’t the council put the property up for auction or sale? Why has it not been sorted? That shop is like a slum and makes ours look bad.

“At our age we might want to sell up but we are being denied that chance because of this.”

Mrs Mitchell claims the owner of the cafe has been tracked down after abandoning the property several years before the fire in 1997.

Mrs Mitchell said damp was spreading to parts of the hairdressers and was costing them more money to tackle.

Coun Jim Smith, who represents Mill Hill, said: “That is a major shopping centre for Mill Hill and this property is a blight on the area. It is an eyesore.”

Blackburn with Darwen Council was asked about the situation in New Wellington Street but failed to supply a response to the Lancashire Telegraph’s query.