HUNDREDS of former council homes are set to be bulldozed as housing association bosses seek to get rid of surplus properties.

Twin Valley Homes has earmarked homes on five of its estates for demolition -- most of which are empty.

The firm, which took over the running of Blackburn with Darwen Council's 10,000 council houses in 2000, plans to reduce its portfolio by 20 per cent in the next 10 years.

Houses on the Roman Road, Temple Drive and Lincoln Road estates in Blackburn and the Two Gates Estate and Ellenshaw Estates in Darwen will all be demolished.

Lincoln Road will lose 154 houses, Roman Road 137, Ellenshaw 73, Temple Drive 40 and Two Gates 41.

A spokesman for Twin Valley Homes said there were no plans to rebuild on the sites of the demolished homes, although the ground would be 'tidied up'.

She said: "The houses we have selected have been unpopular with our tenants and difficult to let.

"They can be unpopular because of the area they are in or the type of home they are."

She added: "We have consulted our tenants and we believe this solution is best all round, especially for the people living near to them at the moment.

"Residents are being kept informed."

Twin Valley has also submitted a request for permission to close footpaths and roads on many of the estates.

Councillors will consider the proposals on Thursday and a full list of closures will be presented to them next month.

The spokesman added: "Many of of the footpaths and roads won't serve any purpose in the future because they won't lead to any houses.

"It would cost money to maintain them."

The houses earmarked for demolition have become empty for a number of reasons. In most areas, the decline started when new houses became more affordable during the 1990s.

As houses became empty, they fell into decline, prompting more people to leave, often to rented accommodation in other areas of the borough.

Around 22 per cent of households live in social rented properties, of which 17 per cent is owned by Twin Valley, and five per cent by other registered social landlords.

The remaining 78 per cent of properties are privately owned.

Around 10 per cent of all Twin Valley's homes are empty.

Blackburn with Darwen Council began a surplus reduction programme before handing over homes to Twin Valley, demolishing a lot of houses in the Roman Road area.

It has also demolished five blocks of flats -- the most recent being the ones at Queens Park.

Housing Association Space has also demolished two blocks of flats in Lark Hill and is replacing them with houses.