BLACKBURN, Hyndburn and Burnley are in top ten list of areas in England with the most empty properties.

Using Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government data, it has been revealed that half of the top ten areas with the highest percentage of vacant homes are located in Lancashire.

Blackburn with Darwen has 2,717 empty properties which equates to 4.43% of local homes which puts the district 9th on the list.

Blackpool has taken the top spot on the list with 5.47% which is 3,842 empty homes

Burnley is second on the list with 2,089 or 5.03% of homes left abandoned whilst Hyndburn has 1,660 empty domestic properties which is 4.5% of the district's homes.

There are 640,000 empty homes in England, which account for 2.65% of all houses.

Blackburn with Darwen Council said that the figure of 4.4% encompasses all empty houses, many of which will be filled in the normal run of house purchasing.

They have stated that the longer-term empty housing percentage is 1.88%.

A council spokesman said: “The council has a team of empty properties officers who contact and negotiate with owners of long term empty homes to enable them to bring their properties back into occupation.

"In a small number of cases where negotiations fail, the Council has powers to use enforcement action to ensure that such homes are refurbished and re-occupied.

If you would like to report a problem empty property in a Blackburn with Darwen neighbourhood you can contact the Empty Properties Team on 01254 585213 or by email to emptyproperties@blackburn.gov.uk