DERELICT cottages in Accrington will be demolished and replaced with new houses, if planners agree.

Local firm 3D Projects Ltd has applied for permission to flatten part of number 31 Bank Street, three derelict cottages, and a workshop in Thompson Court.

Four houses will then be built, while redundant first floor storage above shops, and the workshop, will be converted into flats, documents show.

In a design, access and heritage statement, Accrington company The Intelligent Design Centre said: “The retention and renovation of these dilapidated buildings will hopefully help to regenerate this area of the town centre.

“The conversion of these existing spaces above the shops into town centre flats represents a good all-round solution. The shops are maintained at ground floor level, whilst the flats will help to keep people in the town centre outside of business hours, thus encouraging a vibrant town centre.”

A number of cottages in Thompson Court, described as “small and cramped subservient houses” have already been demolished because of their poor condition.

Just three remain, all in a poor state.

“These dilapidated buildings are generally in a very poor condition and are structurally dangerous. The northern most cottage has no roof or floors and large sections of its walls have fallen down,” documents said.

“The southern most cottage has an asbestos roof and rotten floor and roof timbers. This cottage will also have to be partially demolished to enable the access into the courtyard to be widened.

“The middle cottage and the workshop have no floors and the fabric is in poor condition.

“Whilst these cottages are a reminder of the squalid conditions of the 19th century, this doesn’t mean that anybody would want to go back to living this way.”

The proposed development would create eight new homes, documents lodged with the council show.

Out of four flats, three would be one-bedroomed, and one would be two-bedroomed, while four two-storey cottage-style homes are also planned.

They will be privately rented.

The Intelligent Design Centre documents said: “The proposals for this site are to reinstate the courtyard as a residential hub.”

Thompson Court was formerly a collection of 19th century weavers’ cottages set in a courtyard behind the shops and houses in Bank Street.

The cottages have not been lived in for around 50 years.

Planning officers at Hyndburn Council will examine the documents, with a decision due in the new year.