PEOPLE in a part of Burnley are living like swine, claim Ukrainian visitors.

Grandmother and Stoneyholme resident Audrey Hanna speaks Russian and seizes the opportunity to show drivers from the Ukraine and Russia around the area whenever they visit a local factory.

She spoke at a Burnley Council meeting, sometimes in Russian, saying: "I have shown them Stoneyholme and they told me we live like swine. They say a lot of people in Russia and the Ukraine live like this, but we are supposed to have a higher standard of living.

"Our area is so bad that not even the homeless want to live there, they would rather live in a skip." Neighbours showed their houses to the foreign visitors with the sky showing through the ceiling and buckets to collect the rainwater.

Burnley Council had police on the door in case there was a repeat performance of the housing committee meeting when Mrs Hanna pelted councillors with pennies, but she was more restrained.

She claimed that during the election, Coun Rafique Malik, now chairman of the housing committee, had promised money for everyone in the area, but now he had been elected the promises were over.

Mrs Hanna added: "People are crying because they have been abandoned. Some of the councillors are traitors to the people."

Stoneyholme and Daneshouse has been divided into three zones and a section called Daneshouse South has been picked, in principle, as a renewal area.

Coun Malik said there were more than 500 houses boarded up in Stoneyholme and Daneshouse, with only 50 in Stoneyholme.

Coun Gordon Birtwistle questioned how many were in the selected renewal area, but Coun Malik did not answer. Instead, he told the councillor if he wanted to know he could find out by walking round the area himself.

Coun Fazal Subhan said: "Just think what will become of our area in the next 30 years."

Coun Malik said the council was bidding for £4 million to £5 million from a government Capital Challenge fund and this money would have a substantial housing renewal element for the Daneshouse and Stoneyholme area.

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