TERRIFIED residents in a trouble-plagued area of Blackpool town centre have joined forces in a bid to put an end to its decline.

The newly-formed Victory Residents and Tenants' Association are meeting with police, environmental health officers and councillors tonight (August 24) to see what they can do to improve the Caunce Street area, dubbed "the streets of shame", after it has become drastically run-down in recent years.

The last straw for locals is the state of a property on the corner of Peter Street and Buchanan which has had a burned-out ambulance in the front garden since early May. The house, pictured here in its awful state, now has vulgar slogans daubed in paint across the front.

Residents have also reported people sniffing glue and drinking outside the half boarded-up house.

One resident, who was too frightened to be named, said: "People come and go from the house all the time and I have seen some of them sniffing glue. It is a nightmare. One lady is trying to sell her house and she has no chance with neighbours like this.

"This area used to be so nice and there are still some nice people but now it has gone to the dogs."

A member of the Victory Residents and Tenants' Association, who feared damage to her own property if she was named, said: "The blame lies with absentee landlords who rent their properties out to absolutely anyone. They just don't care as long as the money is coming in. "The area is in a terrible state. It's now worse than ever. The kids are unruly and they intimidate the old people who have lived here for years. And having properties like the one on Peter Street is just too much.

"Something has to be done before it's too late," she said.

One resident says that more than £6,000 has been wiped off the value of her house.

The owner of the house, who referred to himself only as Kevin, said children were to blame for the vandalism and he was hoping the house would qualify for a council grant so improvements and renovation work could be carried out.

The council's environmental health department served a 15-day notice on Wednesday August 9 ordering the removal of the ambulance and plans to remove it are now under way.

Blackpool Council planning officer Ian Ward said he had received complaints about the house and had served a notice last September ordering the property to be tidied up. He said he was now looking into the matter again.