DEMOLITION work is set to begin for a £7million project to build dozens of flats in the centre of Blackburn.

Millionaire pub boss Margo Grimshaw has been given permission to demolish her Market Street Lane properties and transform them into 62 apartments, along with a number of shops and restaurants.

Now she has revealed workmen will be moving in to begin demolishing The Castle, C'est La Vie, Never Never Land and Mr G's nightclub in March, triggering the start of her Cathedral Court develop-ment.

The nearby Swan pub, in Higher Church Street, is also set to be demolished to make way for an entrance to planned underground park-ing.

Today Margo welcomed the progress, and said it had been hard work to get the development this far.

She said: "The development is all systems go and it's quite exciting really. It has taken us two years to get to this point. We have had to purchase The Swan pub and two pieces of land off the council.

"We have also had a lot of research to do, into smells, traffic, archaeology, and water. You're taking a big risk. There used to be people living over the pubs but, according to the latest surveys, there are only 10 or 12 people living in the town and that's a bit sad really. I think this will make the town a lot safer."

The plan is to have the first tenants moving into the properties within 12 months, and the development completed within two years.

A further development is also planned in the area of The Swan, but details have yet to be confirmed.

The Cathedral Court buildings will feature several blocks, each between three and six floors high.

Margo, known for her pub businesses in Blackburn, decided to sell up and move into the property market when the Government's new licensing laws to allow longer drinking hours were revealed.

The work is being carried out by a business partnership called Grimshaw Properties Ltd. Margo said: "I don't really agree with the new licensing laws because I think it has divided the generations."

Details of the developments will be made available through an estate agent in the next few weeks.