HOUSING Minister Hilary Armstrong will see for herself the poor state of Pendle's housing, after pleas by local Liberal councillors and Labour MP Gordon Prentice.

Both sides were today eager to claim credit for the visit after initial fears that the minister might turn down the chance to tour the area.

Mr Prentice said: "I am delighted that Hilary has been able to take up my invitation to come to Pendle.

"There are hundreds of local authorities all over the country clamouring for a visit and I am naturally pleased that she will be with us later this month.

"We have some of the worst housing in the country here and it is important that ministers are aware of the daunting scale of the problem." Pendle Council leader Alan Davies wrote to the minister after hearing that Mr Prentice had initially been told her diary was too busy for a visit.

He said: "It seems our pressure to get her to come to Pendle has paid off at last.

"We hope to be able to tell her about the main housing problems in Pendle and our plans for tackling them, if the Government will let us."

A total of 57 per cent of the housing stock was built before 1919 - more than anywhere else in the country.

Eighty six per cent of homes in Pendle are privately owned - one of the highest rates in the country.

In Blackburn, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle and Rossendale, more than half of the private sector housing stock was built before 1919 and many owners cannot afford to repair their homes.

Mr Prentice said: "In view of this, it is little wonder East Lancashire's housing stock needs a major overhaul.

"The dreadful, decrepit state of much of Lancashire's housing stock was highlighted in July 1993 by a seminal report by the then Bishop of Burnley, the Right Rev Ronald Milner, and his inquiry team.

"It is perfectly clear that a tremendous amount of work remains to be done."

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