A CONSERVATION area could be revamped as owners of listed buildings are told to make urgent repairs.

Two listed buildings which are on Accrington’s Cannon Street have been served with council notices requiring landowners to start making improvements.

The notices, served on the owners of both the former Conservative Club and Cannon Street Baptist Church, are hoped to herald the start of the area’s regeneration.

The notices are similar to one served on the former Opium Nightclub in nearby Willow Street earlier this year. The owner’s repairs to the building, which had been damaged by fire, are now nearing completion.

In response to the notices, the Conservative Club owners say they “remain passionate” about proceeding with “a state-of-the-art heritage deve-lopment” while a spokesman for Y&Y Developments said they would be following the list of repairs for the church “item by item”.

Both the church, owned by Y&Y Developments of Pre-stwich and the former Con-servative Club, owned by Woodgreen Developments of Burnley are listed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport as ‘special architectural or historic interest’.

Owner of the Conservative Club, Iftakhar Bhatti, said his company was ‘negotiating’ with planners at Hyndburn as to how they were to proceed with plans for an office and leisure development.

He said: “We are working very closely with them to try and move things forward.

"We are looking to demolish the back and install a glass atrium, which would remove the need for repairs back there.

"At the front, we will be renovating and painting windows as required.”

A spokesman for Y&Y Developments pledged to repair all the items on the list, but said developing a listed building in the current economic climate was impossible due to a lack of financial backing.