TWO developers have been appointed to carry put the first phase of work as part of a £20million scheme to improve housing in Burnley.

As part of housing company Calico's drive to bring homes in the borough up to scratch, Emmanuel Whittaker and White Building Services have been chosen.

The firms, which are based in Oldham and Newton-le-Willows respectively, were picked after impressing housing chiefs with improvement works carried out in the Lanehead, Kibble Bank and Pheasantford Green areas of Burnley last year, which included transforming crumbling flats into new homes.

Over the next four years the contractors will renovate thousands of Calico homes across the borough, fitting new kitchens and wall insulation as well as carrying out rewiring and roof maintenance.

Russell Dyson, Calico's investment programme manager, today said: "These improvements are going to make a valuable difference to many customers' daily lives.

"The programme has been put together to exceed the Government's Decent Homes Standard, and we're raising the bar in terms of the quality and comfort you'd expect from good rented accommodation in Burnley."

The association took over the running of more than 5,300 former local authority homes from Burnley Council in 1999.

Last week Calico appointed its new chief executive Mike Birkett who promised millions of pounds would be spent improving the company's housing stock.