A HOUSE owner has been taken to court for the third time after leaving houses in chronic disrepair.

Fed-up residents complained that Julia Hickmott’s properties had inadequate guttering and a demolished back wall which was seeping water into neighb-ouring homes.

Neighbours of her two Burnley Road properties, in Clayton-le-Moors, complained that ten years had seen phases of renovations, which turned the houses into an ongoing building site.

Residents got in touch with Hyndburn Council, asking officers to take action.

Owner Mrs Hickmott was ordered to pay £1,600 in fines and costs in the third action taken against her by the council.

In the latest case, neighbours complained to the council after the two adjacent properties, in Burnley Road, were left in poor condition, with phases of renovation and building work at the houses for a decade. The council said attempts to speak to her informally about making arrangements for repairs failed to get results.

Hyndurn Council deputy leader Clare Pritchard said: “These two houses have caused concern for neighbours for many years.

“Our officers have spoken to Mrs Hickmott several times, asking her to bring the properties in to a state of repair.

“However, despite her being given time to carry out the work, it still hasn’t been completed, and so we’ve taken her back to court, where magistrates ordered her to pay fines and costs over £1,600.”

Mrs Hickmott bought the properties in 2003 and since then had been carry-ing out phases of renovat-ion work, including rem- oving inner walls and the roof.

It is not the first time the council has taken action against her. In 2010, Mrs Hickmott also pleaded guilty, at Reedley Magistrates’ Court, to failing to comply with notices relating to 8 Edge End, Great Harwood. Her second conviction was in December 2011, at Hyndburn Magistrates’ Court, for failing to comply with two notices relating to the properties in Burnley Road, Clayton-le-Moors.