TENANTS living near scores of boarded up houses on run-down Burnley council estates have been "conned" by promises of a new future under a council "sell off" of their homes, it was claimed today.

Town Hall chiefs have this week been celebrating the success of their campaign to transfer the entire housing stock to a publicly-run company after tenants voted 90 per cent in favour of the deal which will see £30 million spent on housing improvements over the next five years alone.

But Liberal Democrat leader Gordon Birtwistle says he has been inundated with complaints since the outcome of the vote when it was announced that 300 empty homes on the Stoops, Hargher Clough and Barclay Hills estates were not included in the transfer to Burnley and Padiham Community Housing.

Their future is in question and many are expected to be demolished.

And that, says Coun Birtwistle, has left tenants on the estates in limbo.

"People are very angry," he declared.

"They were assured that all council houses would be transferred and improved - including the boarded up houses which are blighting their areas.

"Now they just don't know where they stand."

Coun Birtwistle said he would be raising the issue as a matter of urgency at next week's meeting of Burnley council. "I advised people to vote for the transfer on the promise that every house would be included.

"I feel I have been misled and the tenants say they have been conned," he added. But today the council housing chief who led the transfer process, Ian Saville, said: "No-one is being left out."

The council, he explained, was now in consultation on the future of the empty properties and the outcome would decide how many would be demolished.

Mr Saville said every tenanted property would be transferred to the new company and those empty houses which were not earmarked for demolition after consultation would also be taken over by the company and included in any improvement proposals.

Where houses were demolished, landscaping and other environmental improvements would take place.

Mr Saville added that the question of the problem properties and the possibility of demolition was included in the offer document sent to all council tenants.

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