ANGRY residents have vowed to fight controversial plans to bulldoze their homes as part of the Project Phoenix regeneration scheme.

The plans for the second phase of Project Phoenix, which covers run-down areas of West Accrington and Church, were unveiled at a council Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

The scheme being run by Elevate, a body set up to regenerate parts of East Lancashire, will see houses in deprived areas knocked down and new ones built in their place.

It is believed Hyndburn Council has already secured around 75 per cent of the 188 houses in phase one of Project Phoenix which includes Rutland Street, Lonsdale Street, Pearl Street and Newark Street.

Now the council wants to move on to phase two which will mean knocking down around 130 houses in areas including Porter Street, Percival Street, Holland Street and Poland Street as well as parts of Lower Antley Street and Blackburn Road.

Residents will have an opportunity to comment on the plans over the next six weeks before the council takes the final decision in November.

But angry residents are up in arms and say they do not want their homes knocking down.

Christine Smith, 54, a care and support worker, of Holland Street, said: "I don't want them to knock my house down. My daughter bought it in 1992 when it was worth £19,000.

"I don't know what I will do if they come around here wanting to knock it down. I might have to tie myself to the door in protest.

"It is peaceful and quiet round here. I don't know where else I could buy a house like this in such a good area."

She also attacked phase one of Project Phoenix which has earmarked the house where she was born in Blackpool Road for demolition.

She said: "When I saw the windows all boarded up I could have cried. I spent the first nine years of my life there. I have memories of that house and I do not want it knocking down."

Councillor Tony Dobson said: "This is not some hair-brained scheme and we are not knocking down houses for the sake of it.

"The properties we are knocking down are in a poor state of repair and many are environmentally unfriendly.

"We appreciate that people will be attached to their houses, particularly if they have lived there for many years.

"But these are some of the same people who have said they cannot continue to live as they are."

He added that the council would be talking to people in the affected areas over the next few weeks.