DEMOLITION work could start at Christmas to clear the way for a £25million renovation programme in Accrington.

Project Phoenix will see the clearance of some 150 houses in West Accrington to make way for new rental properties.

The first phase of clearance -- the even numbers on Lonsdale Street and odd numbers on Pearl Street -- will cost around £5million, including purchase and demolition costs.

The plans also include the building of a new £8.6million one-stop health centre, approved in outline by planners last week.

The council has already bought 25 of the properties covered by the scheme, with another 25 in the pipeline. The rest will be acquired through a compulsory purchase order, and residents still not happy about valuations on their properties were told again last night they could apply for grants to make up the shortfall if they wanted to buy another house.

For the last two years Hyndburn Council allocated £300,000, and is expected to contribute a similar amount over the course of the project.

Hyndburn First is also preparing a £2million funding bid from the Single Regeneration Budget, with a further £500,000 already allocated by Elevate East Lancashire, one of nine government pathfinder schemes to breathe new life into areas of low housing demand and rundown houses.

At a meeting of West Accrington Residents' Association, Hyndburn First director Nigel Rix said work could start on the first phase of housebuilding next summer.

But some residents were still not convinced they would benefit. John Briggs, 72, of Lonsdale Street, Accrington, has lived in his house since he married 47 years ago.

He said: "My quality of life is being destroyed. I'm going to have to do something I planned not to do. I'm going to have to rent property. All those years ago we thought all we would have to do in our old age would be to pay our outgoings.

"I'm looking at about £20,000 for my property, and I will probably have to pay up to £80 a week for rent. That money is not going to last long."

Paul Kelly, 44, of Percival Street, Accrington, says he lives on the edge of the project, and blamed the council for a fall in house prices in the area. "Unfortunately because of all the rumours, the area has been blighted. The council has the responsibility for that blight.

"My house is now valued at a minimum of 30 per cent less than it was, and that £50,000 house is probably now worth £60,000. The value of my property is going down and down. What do I do?"

Mr Rix said people who really didn't want to move had the chance to object.