RESIDENTS in the Whitefield area of Nelson area have made plans to deck out the streets they saved from demolition with flags and bunting.

The Whitefield Residents' Conservation Action Group planned the celebrations at its first meeting since the victory was announced two weeks ago.

Residents also debated what they would like to see done with their area, now their homes have been secured from the threat of demolition.

It took three years of battling and two public inquiries for the residents, backed by English Heritage, to defeat council plans to demolish 160 homes, and in the meantime more than 100 homes became empty.

The celebrations will be held between October 20 and 26, when St Mary's Church and surrounding streets will be decorated with flags and bunting.

Workshops will be run at the church all week by Visual Islamic Traditional Arts and work will be displayed at the weekend.

A 90-strong delegation from the Victorian Society will visit the exhibition on the Sunday to celebrate the preservation of the 160 homes.

Action group spokesman Sylvia Wilson said: "This is likely to be the first of many celebrations. We wanted to have a street party but we felt the weather could be a problem at this time of year.

"At least we will be able to make the streets look as good as they did for the jubilee, when there was bunting up almost all year.

"We discussed a lot of things at the meeting, including the fact that we will need to be patient about people deciding what will happen round here, because sorting out the plans will take a long time.

"All the residents feel we have had an historic victory and we don't want anything to go wrong now. We just want to be involved in whatever plans are made."

But Every Street resident Javed Khan, who spoke at the inquiry to support the demolition, said today: "I hope something can happen fast. Many houses are in a run-down state, businesses are suffering and people are moving out."

Every Street greengrocer Mohammad Asghar said: "To be honest, I don't see what can be done in this area apart from demolition, because it's gone so far downhill.

"Renovation would take too long. Something needs doing quickly.

"I would still be willing to leave tomorrow, if the compensation was right."

Councillors from all parties and representatives from English Heritage and Elevate East Lancashire have stressed the need for organisations to work together to establish a future for the area.

Pendle MP Gordon Prentice has said he will meet the chairman of Elevate East Lancashire this month to get a detailed report on the situation in Whitefield.