A NEW housing estate in Blackburn worth almost £3million has been fenced off with barbed wire after none of the homes sold in two years.

Residents said the 20 house-block has become an eyesore and a magnet for vandals.

A six-foot high fence topped with barbed wire has been erected around the patch of land in a residential area off Hamilton Street, in the Infirmary area of Blackburn.

Council bosses said they had no power to step in and persuade the site owner to finish the job.

The tightly-grouped three and four bedroom houses were put on the market for £119,950 to £137,500 but failed to sell.

It is thought the owner is now trying to sell the entire complex, which is just yards from the site of a new development under the Elevate regeneration scheme that will bring hundreds more homes to the area.

The houses appear to be finished, although the front gardens are overgrown. A police notice warns against vandalism, but graffiti has been scrawled on some of the walls and many of the windows are boarded up.

There is still building equipment on the grassy area in the middle of the block, which has become overgrown with weeds.

Natalie Hudson, 25, of Grafton Street, said: "They should knock them all down. All the kids smash the windows, and it's been like that for about two years.

"They are an eyesore now, and just like shoe boxes. They stopped even putting glass back in the windows.

"There used to be a guard and a guard dog but they've not been seen for six months."

The site used to be a nursing home which was boarded up for a number of years, she added.

Herbert Street resident June Clarke, 45, added: "They were building them two years ago. They went up fairly quickly, then it all came to a standstill.

"It's like a ghost town now. There is nobody in there at all. They are just completely empty and getting vandalised every day. So many people in this area want houses and they are all there standing empty.

"It has become an eyesore. Residents just want to know what's going on and why nothing has happened."

Estate agent Reeds Rains advertises the houses, which have fitted kitchens and bathrooms already built in, on its website.

But the manager of its Blackburn branch, who did not want to be named, said none of the homes had been sold.

He said: "People have been put off by the actual look of the development.

"The site is under negotiation to be sold as a whole development.

"He just wants to sell the whole lot as it stands there."

He would not confirm the identity of the site owner.

A Manchester-based firm, Milstream Ltd, was given planning permission to build the houses in 2005, but the company could not be contacted by the Lancashire Telegraph.

The agent listed on the planning application, Rochdale-based IM Conway, did not respond when asked to comment.

Neil Rodgers, head of planning at Blackburn with Darwen council, said while the council had powers to ensure a development started after a certain time it could not enforce a finishing time.

He added: "Officers from building control have not signed off the development because it is not yet finished.

"However, officers have written to the owners, who put in the original application, to inform them that the council has received complaints from residents and they need to keep the site secure."