Frustrated residents are calling for a dilapidated landmark to be turned into a community space after owners were fined for failing to act.

Kingsway Inns Ltd, owners of the New Palladium on Union Road, Oswaldtwistle have been hauled before courts by Hyndburn Council for failing to demolish or restore the crumbling building.

Councillor Peter Britcliffe, chair of the Oswaldtwistle Area Council, was pleased the council were continuing to pursue the owners.

He said: "I welcome the action by the council.

"The Palladium is an eyesore and it is very important that if the owners aren't going to demolish it as was previously suggested they keep it safe and in a state of good repair.

"Ideally I’d like to see it demolished and maybe a garden in its place with fencing around it.

"If the building is demolished we’ll work with residents to achieve this."

But Mike Booth of Oswaldtwistle Civic Society said he would like to see a facility for the whole community.

He said: "Originally it was a cinema but maybe in these days of ‘Strictly’ it would work as a dance hall.

"It requires some investment by local bodies but there’s lots of possibilities for it.

"It’s sad when visitors come from all over the country and see such a dilapidated building in such a poor state of repair."

Kingsway had been served with a notice to carry out improvements but, in a hearing on Friday, October 28 Blackburn Magistrates Court heard they had still not taken action

The company pleaded guilty to failing to comply and were fined £150 and £415 costs.

In a letter to the court, solicitors acting for Kingsway said the company was not trading and had no assets other than the building.

"The plot after demolition would probably be worth less than the cost of demolition and if this is the case the company is insolvent," said the letter. The building is a casualty of changing social trends in the United Kingdom over the last century or so."

The 1,000-seat Palladium, which opened in 1934, was targeted by arsonists in 2004 and had been in a poor state ever since.

No one from Kingsway Inns was available to comment.