LEGAL action is being taken against residents who spend a council's money on doing up their homes and leave them empty.

Two cases are currently being chased through the courts by officers from Hyndburn Council, who say they have dozens of houses standing empty, despite their owners being given hundreds or thousands of pounds to improve them.

The houses in question are either owned by people who have since moved on or by landlords who have been slow to rent them out.

Now the owners of other houses which have been left empty after receiving grant aid from Hyndburn are to be written to and given a month to supply a satisfactory reason as to why no-one is living in their property.

Julian Hickinbottom, urban renewal manager at Hyndburn Council, said: "We have two cases now where we are in a position to go to court to reclaim the grant and our costs and our solicitor is currently sorting that out.

"We are writing to every home which appears empty, despite having a grant awarded to it, to find out what is going on.

"A house is supposed to be reoccupied within four weeks of the work being completed.

"We are giving people every chance to help themselves here. If they don't cooperate, that help will effectively become the rope they use to hang themselves."

Officers from Hyndburn Council's benefit investigation section could also be used to make sure houses are being occupied.

But the public are being urged to report any houses which remain empty.

Mr Hickinbottom added: "This is a fairly new phenomenon and one which has centred on one area of town over the last couple of years.

"Some people can present us with reasons why houses are not being occupied. If we give a grant to a landlord who advertises his property but can't find a tenant, then there is obviously nothing he can do about it.

"Some people have genuine personal circumstances which mean their home may be unoccupied and we appreciate that.

"We need residents to tell us where houses are empty. We can't have staff everywhere, so we need the public's help to get money back."

The only people to be excluded from any possible action are those whose homes are still uninhabitable after the repair work has been carried out.

It was an issue first raised by Coun Jean Battle when she spoke to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph last June.

Councillors sanctioned the get-tough stance at a meeting of the policy and resources committee last week.