RESIDENTS who have campaigned to improve their street for 21 years said today they were appalled at plans to tear it down.

Burnley Council's proposed Neighbourhood Action Plan for South West Burnley includes proposals to demolish Dean Street to extend a car park and build alternative housing.

But while surrounding streets contain rows of boarded-up houses, all but one of the homes in Dean Street are occupied.

Brian Barratt, 65, a retired diesel fitter and the chairman of the local Neighbourhood Watch, bought his home in Dean Street in 1957.

He said: "People here are council tax payers who are proud of their homes. I couldn't believe these plans and a lot of people haven't heard anything about them. In 1972 we started a campaign to try to improve this area. If the council wants to make things better, why not give us grants to carry out improvements ourselves?

"Every house in this street is occupied except for one which a couple moved out of last week and it's a good place to live.

"We have successfully campaigned for traffic calming and to improve the trading park across the road. I have been in my home for 46 years and I want to enjoy my retirement here."

Another resident, who asked not to be named, said: "It just seems ridiculous. In the past, all the money has seemed to go to other areas of the town and we have felt like the forgotten corner. Now to hear about this is awful.

"We have spent years trying to keep this area as a good place to live."

The plans to demolish numbers two to six Dean Street to extend the car parking area of Burnham Trading Park and to demolish numbers one to 27 for new family housing will go before Burnley Council's executive when it meets tomorrow.

If approved, the Neighbourhood Action Plans will be drawn up in more detail before being submitted to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in December as part of Elevate East Lancashire's strategic plan.

Michael Wellock, of Burnley Council's housing and regeneration team, said: "The proposals form part of a comprehensive package of renewal and regeneration of some of the poorest housing in the borough.

"The proposals were specifically designed to look at the wider picture as far as neighbourhoods are concerned, not at individual houses and streets.

"While Dean Street doesn't suffer from the problem of abandonment like neighbouring Duckett Street, our survey has found that properties on both sides of Dean Street are in generally poor condition.

"The proposed demolition will allow the introduction of new homes and create space for private gardens and car parking for the homes that are left, which we feel will benefit the area.

"The multi-million pound Elevate housing renewal and regeneration scheme is not just about clearing individual boarded-up houses or one or two rows.

"In some cases it will mean clearing some good properties as well as the poor ones to create the opportunity for wide-reaching renewal of large areas."