HOUSING bosses will face angry residents from the Lowerhouse area of Burnley at a clear-the-air public meeting this week.

Council housing chairman Rafique Malik denied claims that town hall officers tried to duck out of attending the meeting in the Ighten Leigh Social Club on Thursday - called by tenants complaining their homes were being left to rot.

He told Burnley council: "There is no reluctance on the part of members or officers to attend."

Furious residents say homes on the Palace House and Woodbine estates have never been improved because house-proud tenants always looked after their properties and never let them reach the run down levels which would have triggered major refurbishment.

Other vandal-hit and uncared for estates in Burnley have had millions poured into them while Lowerhouse has made do with outdated facilities, they claim.

Council chiefs concede the Lowerhouse residents are right on both counts and admit the care they put into their properties counted against them. Now householders say the need for repairs and improvement is urgent - but Labour bosses have told them tight spending restrictions and major reductions in government grant means there simply is nothing in the kitty to help housing in Lowerhouse.

And they will spell out the difficulties in the face-to-face meeting on Thursday evening.

Coun Malik said he, vice chairman of housing Donald Hall and Director of Community Services Ian Saville would attend.

Residents are calling for an area housing office like those established on other estates.

They will also demand to know why their ward representatives, Eddie Fisk and Joe Tierney - suspended by the Labour party over the allegations that they helped constituents queue jump the official house waiting list - are unable to represent them at council on housing issues.

"We have no-one to represent us but ourselves and it is wrong," said a residents' spokesman.

Liberal Democrat leader Gordon Birtwistle said nothing had been spent on the Lowerhouse estates in 30 years and Labour's decision to send each tenant a copy of a report explaining the financial difficulties would be useless.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.