RESIDENTS of a 'forgotten' area of Duke Bar have called on Burnley Council to renovate their streets.

The streets around Rylands Street, Ford Street and Heap Street had been earmarked for demolition under the now-defunct Elevate programme, but the work was never carried out.

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Many of the properties now stand empty, and the back yards are used as a dumping ground by fly-tippers, attracting rats.

Residents have said that groups also congregate in the back yards to light fires, and in the wake of Bonfire Night, many of the back alleys were filled with firework casings and charred embers of bonfires.

Problems with drug use have also been reported in the area, and residents have reported finding discarded needles and other drugs paraphernalia.

Iftakhar Ahmed, 49, lives in Ford Street with his wife and eight children.

He said: "The condition is really bad, the yards behind the houses are full of rubbish.

"I've seen many times syringes here, dog poo here. I've seen people standing up and weeing here, I've told them this is our kitchen wall.

"I try really hard to keep my house tidy, but people throw their rubbish everywhere and dump things in the back yards.

"I've spent a lot of money on this house, all my savings, but I can't let my children play outside.

"I would be really happy if they renovated it because to be frank I can't afford to buy anywhere else."

Queensgate councillor Arif Khan said: "This area is really, really bad, it's an eyesore.

"People are coming to me about it every week, every day.

"They said they'd demolish this area, and the boarded up houses are encouraging fly-tipping.

"There are some really nice houses in Queensgate, but this area has been forgotten.

"It was about time something was done and this area was renovated.

"It's a disgrace. These streets need alley-gating to stop intruders coming in."

New alley gate schemes were recently approved in Trinity, Bank Hall, and Gawthorpe but not in Queensgate.

Joanne Swift, head of Streetscene at Burnley Council, said: “Now that we are aware of this particular incident of fly-tipped rubbish, officers are working with local landlords to remove the waste and to prevent further occurrences.

"The council takes the matters of fly-tipping very seriously that’s why we are the second best authority in Britain at prosecuting people for fly-tipping, littering and dog fouling.

"Residents from the Ford St and Rylands Street areas of the town have quite rightly raised concerns at the occurrence of illegal fly-tipping of their area.

“As such we urge residents to report all incidents of fly-tipping and to inform the council if they have any information on the offenders that are depositing the waste illegally in their areas.

"This information can be provided confidentially to the council if required.

"Residents can contact the council online at www.burnley.gov.uk, by emailing streetscene@burnley.gov.uk, or by phoning 425011.”