PLANS are being drawn up to force people moving out of Ribble Valley council houses to sell to local people to prevent the area becoming a collection of dormitory towns and holiday homes.

The move by Ribble Valley Council comes amid concern that sky-high property prices are forcing young families brought up in the area to move away in search of affordable accommodation.

Solicitors acting for the council are drawing up new contracts for the future sale of large numbers of its 1,394 council houses, insisting that if they are sold on, the purchaser must either live or work locally. The council is acting on Government recommendations in a bid to stop rural areas becoming a haven for second homes.

It is hoped the scheme -- believed to be one of the first of its kind in the country -- will make more housing available to young people living in the borough.

Demand for homes from people outside the area has driven up prices, with many cottages and farms being sold as holiday homes for people from across the country. A typical three-bedroom, semi-detached house in the area now costs at least £115,000.

Using the Housing Act 1985, council houses across the area will become subject to the extra clause in the selling contract, providing the government approves the scheme.

The areas highlighted by the council are Grindleton, Knowle Green, Chipping, Hurst Green, Waddington, Sabden, Holden, Newton and Dunsop Bridge,

The council is also investing in more 'social housing' for local people. Last month, it put aside cash to support the renovation of the Co-op building in Berry Lane, Longridge, into flats for local people. The move has been backed by estate agents, who claim to be selling more and more of the valley's 22,000 houses to outsiders.

The council insists on a clause in the house contract which entitles them to rebuy the council house if it is put up for sale within 10 years of it being sold off.

The move would increase the amount of council tax collected by the borough as people pay a reduced rate on second homes.

Chief executive David Morris said: "Under the new scheme, we would lose that right to buy it back at a preferential price but we would be able to make sure it was sold to local people.

"We are still drawing up definitions of what a local person or someone who works locally is.

"This would only apply for houses sold after we change the policy but it would mean that local people wouldn't be left with no houses to buy, as is the case now."

Council leader Peter Redpath said: "The last thing we want is end up running a ghost borough and have the area treated like some holiday dormitory.

"We need thriving, active communities with the people who have helped make this borough what it is able to stay here and not get priced out of the market.

"Also, by keeping the houses for use of local people, we get more council tax than we would if they were sold as holiday homes, which is good for the borough."

Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans said: "I think it is a good idea but I can foresee problems. It's a good idea to put restrictions on the re-sale of council houses to people outside the area as long as there is strictly limited time for that to apply.

"Too often housing in the Ribble Valley is too expensive for many local young people but what we don't want to see is the local authority put similar restrictions on the sale of private houses."

The council has written to the Government to see which areas it thinks are rural within the Ribble Valley.

A finalised plan of action will go to the next meeting of the housing committee.

Whalley estate agent Russell Anderton said: "There is a problem with too many people coming in from other areas and buying houses here.

"Houses prices have gone up a lot in the last year to the point where people living in other parts of East Lancashire would have to pay a lot more if they moved here and just wanted a house of the same standard to what they were living in in Darwen, Blackburn, Hyndburn or Burnley. "If this clause is introduced, we will only be able to sell to a smaller number of people but we should be able to sell them at a price affordable to local people. We'd be happy to sell to local people but we have people from all over the North West trying to move here."

Stuart Sharples, 21, who lives in Longridge with his parents, said: "My girlfriend and I want to move in together but there is nowhere affordable for us because people from out of the area can pay more than we can ."