PART of a town has been moved off the critical status for heritage following a 10-year campaign.

Whitefield Conservation Area, in Nelson, has been removed from Historic England’s At Risk Register.

MORE TOP STORIES:

The 19th century industrial town was built for the textile manufacturing community but it fell into disrepair when the area became one of the most deprived in the UK.

Pendle Council has led the way in bringing Whitefield back to life, thanks to a Heritage Lottery Fund grant with support from Historic England, which was previously known as English Heritage and is a public body that champions the nation’s past.

The work involved repairing traditional sandstone terraced milltown houses while the actual mill has been restored by a building preservation trust.

A derelict mill owner’s house was also brought back into use as a community centre and mosque.

It also included the Grade II listed St Mary’s church and Grade II listed bridges over the Leeds-Liverpool canal.

Cllr Mohammed Iqbal, leader of Pendle Council, said he was delighted the buildings were off the list.

He said: “With a new £9million infant and nursery school, rated outstanding by Ofsted, and beautifully-restored heritage houses and newly- built homes, Whitefield is a wonderful place to live and bring up a family.”

Across the region, five buildings has been taken off the register and six added; 10 places of worship have been taken off and 26 added; 29 archaeological sites have been removed with four new ones included; and seven conservation areas have been removed from the and two added.

A barn opposite Hurstwood Hall, in Worsthorne-with-Hurstwood, Burnley, has also been repaired in the past 12 months and is no longer on the At Risk list.

But it is not all good news for East Lancashire.

The Holme, Burnley Road, Cliviger, remains in a “critical condition” with fears over it falling down after unauthorised removals and a failure to carry out stabilisation work.

It is one of the county’s few surviving country houses and dates from the late 16th Century.

It was bought by a new owner in June 2013, who liaised with English Heritage and the local authority, but progress stalled.