SOME of Bury's worst housing will be demolished after a £10 million scheme to transform the Pimhole area was approved.

Council bosses have officially declared clearance areas in what is the biggest regeneration programme ever undertaken in the borough.

Some 134 properties, mainly in Ingham Street but also in surrounding roads, will be knocked down and replaced with new houses, along with widescale environmental improvements. Officers say that 41 per cent of the properties do not meet the Government's decent homes standard.

However, the decision was met with dismay by some residents who say the community will be dispersed and people will be unable to afford to buy an alternative home.

Mr Simon Fargher told members of the council's executive that it would be cheaper to renovate the houses. He also said the council was partly responsible for the state of the area by not repairing pavements and alleyways and tackling litter.

Mr Harry Reed, who presented a 70-name petition, added: "It's a diverse community and unique to Bury. There has been a large influx of ethnic minorities, and we work and live together. To pull this down and move them out would break that community up."

But Mr Mark Seaborn, managing director of consultants Pennington, said they had been consulting residents for the last two years and not one objection had been received.

"People have said to us, time and time again, what they want to see for the future of their neighbourhood," he said. "History tells us, from other parts of northern England, that if we just carry out a simple renovation of private properties, we end up coming back to do further renovation. It's a more complex problem than simply the condition of the properties. We have to take a broad view."

Mr Alan Freer, borough environmental services officer, said that about half of the residents affected had already approached the council about selling their houses.

"You can buy a whole street of houses in some parts of Salford for £5,000, and we are trying to avoid that. We're looking at creating a sustainable community, where people will have a different environment and a better quality of life."

Residents have been told they will be given the market value of their home, plus up to £14,000 in relocation costs.

Radcliffe councillor Wayne Campbell said: "The area is in decline and we have to do something about it. It's more than just doing up the properties, it's helping to change the whole area."