BLACKPOOL'S inner areas are like derelict bombsites claims one local man.

Local historian Terry Regan says the resort's Talbot and Brunswick wards have been grossly neglected by the council. And they have progressively worsened over the years, making life a misery for the area's many residents.

This is despite Blackpool Borough Council's counter-claim to have invested £4m of Government funding doing up homes and businesses after consulting with the communities of Talbot and Brunswick.

But Mr Regan has moved out of the area he grew up in as he feels the council has failed him and his family by breaking numerous promises to revamp and upgrade the area.

Mr Regan said: "The area is bounded roughly by Talbot Road through to Granville Road, and from Cookson Street through to Selbourne Road. This is a large area and very densely populated. There are many young people living within its bounds and there also many old people residing in that area.

"The facilities are puerile and crime, like the grot, is everywhere. The many decent people around the district are sickened by the daily happenings and are fed-up to the back teeth with the false promises of a better, safer and cleaner area and as usual are still waiting for something rational to be done by the council in order to bring about these changes.

"Where for instance do the many children have to play? Where are the trees and the grassed areas which the council estates enjoy? Where are the clean back alleys and the well maintained footpaths one is entitled to walk upon?

"In fact, where the hell is the improvement which should have happened long ago in this deprived and overlooked area, and where has the alleged millions of pounds spent in the area disappeared to?

"I ask all these questions on behalf of many of the area's residents. They deserve the answers but, more importantly, they deserve a better district in which to live."

Talbot Ward's Coun Philip Dunne hit back. He said: "Since April 2000 £4.5 m has been spent in the area doing up houses and business premises, buying up disused properties and converting them into family dwellings and on highway works etc.

"And this housing renewal strategy will continue next year. The council has consulted extensively with the community on developments for the area and meetings are held every two months. The council has also helped residents set up their own community group.

"There are lots of things happening in this area, including the doctors surgery and the testing of a possible site for a community project and there are also numerous things in the pipeline.

"We only have access to limited amounts of the funding each year. Each year the amount will increase and become available over the next five to seven years.

"Individual home improvements have already been carried out in the last 12 to 18 months and one of four pilot schemes to 'gate' alleys in this area is ready to be implemented.

"The council has also successfully bid for a total of £1.3m from the Dept of Transport, Local Government and the Regions for a Homezone project. This will be spent on initiatives to improve the quality of life for residents through a package of measures designed to calm traffic, increase resident parking space and create an environment where people feel comfortable and safe in the street."