THE number of empty council houses in Rossendale is on the increase and Bacup is the Valley's empty home blackspot.

Since the beginning of the financial year the number of empty council properties has increased by 16 per cent - and 93 of the 139 empty homes are in Bacup.

Rita Walker secretary of Bacup's Estate Management Board said: "We are finding now in Bacup that more shop properties are being turned into flats and that means more council properties are being left empty."

In a report to David Taylor, the borough's housing and environmental health officer, Bacup's neighbourhood officer Neil Townsend said that 50 per cent of the town's empty properties were difficult to let and should be considered for demolition.

He said: "The Board and local staff feel it is time that a definitive strategy be discussed, agreed and implemented with particular reference to the voids at Hawthorn Road, Thorn Gardens and Mettlecote.

"Despite the very best efforts to let these particular areas, the Estate Management Board's view is that stock should be reduced through a programme of selective demolition."

Councillor will be meeting with the board to discuss the problem.

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