RESIDENTS on a rundown Burnley estate are meeting to form a lobby group to fight for funds to regenerate their area.

Piccadilly's Moving was started by a small group of residents from two residents' groups - Palatine Square Residents' Association and Piccadilly Area Residents' Association - who were disappointed that the area was not included in the first round of Elevate East Lancashire funding.

But at its first public meeting for local residents tomorrow it will form a committee and start planning how to go about tackling some of the issues they are facing, such as empty houses, dirty back yards, crime and anti-social behaviour.

Sarah Green, one of the founder members, said the first objective is to respond to a council report from Mike Cook, the director of market and community renewal, who was given a tour of the area by residents when he visited with council chief executive, Gillian Taylor, in September. The visit followed a housing and environmental report of the area, which was written by Sarah and highlighted some of the problems being faced by residents every day.

Sarah, of Palatine Square, said Mr Cook's response to the report and his visit had not been as full and frank as she had hoped, but he said the renewal team was prepared to meet with Piccadilly's Moving in the New Year to 'prepare ahead' of the area's inclusion in future funding bids from Elevate.

She said: "It will be for residents at the meeting to decide how we respond to Mr Cook, but personally I am disappointed that he focused on the specifics of certain examples we showed him when he visited, which were meant purely as examples of what we are dealing with on a day-to-day basis. I was also expecting more information about how the council had made the decision for the funding to go elsewhere because we need to know who to lobby. If it was purely a council decision we need to lobby our local councillors, but if they were bound by Government restrictions then we need to start a letter campaign to our MP and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister."

But Sarah said the first stage was to formally set up the group and start working towards a renewal programme that residents want, rather than one the council wants.

She urged people to come out to the meeting and join the group.The meeting takes place at the Hobb and Gill, in Burnham Gate, on Tuesday at 7pm.