A SET of unpopular and crime ridden flats are finally to be demolished, Blackburn Town Hall has announced.

Mill Hill's three multi-storey blocks of flats will be razed to the ground and replaced by a new housing estate.

The council is demolishing the flats and will be marketing the vacant site with private housing developers. There are also similar plans to bulldoze the Lark Hill and Queen's Park flats as soon as possible.

The council is keen to get rid off the flats before the proposed housing stock transfer to a new private landlord takes place, because they will devalue the housing stock.

Corporation tenants are voting on the transfer later this year, but the flats, which are a drain on council resources, would have to be included in the transfer if they have not been demolished. The Mill Hill flats have been standing empty for some time, but the final decision to flatten them was taken at an executive committee meeting of Blackburn with Darwen Council this week, although officials are still trying to work out how much the move will cost.

Mill Hill councillor and leader of the ruling Labour group Malcolm Doherty, said: "Local people will be very pleased that the Mill Hill flats are to be demolished. They will be even more pleased when they see the new housing on the site, which will be in keeping with the surrounding area."

He added: "It is great to be able to say to Mill Hill people that it is definitely going to happen now -- the flats are coming down."

Deputy council leader and fellow Mill Hill councillor Gail Barton, said: "The council wants housing available that people want to actually live in.

"For many years few people wanted to live in the Mill Hill flats and they became a focus for vandalism and problems.

"The local community will be quite happy to see the flats razed to the ground."