A NEW housing scheme, that was slammed by council officials, has proved more than popular with some Preston residents.

Preston Housing Committee last week blocked plans to sell off the town's crumbling council houses to an independent housing association.

They were to be sold for around £600 each to raise money for essential building repairs.

But, in a ballot held in November 1998, 90 per cent of council tenants living on the Avenham, Queen Street and Frenchwood estates voted in favour of the housing stock transfer scheme.

And now Richard and Constance Walker, who have lived in Avenham for almost fifty years, are celebrating after becoming the first tenants to be handed the key-to-the-door of their new home.

The two-bedroomed bungalow in Floyer Street, Avenham, is one of the first properties to be completed by Avenquest Homes, the company managing the redevelopment of the area on behalf of Collingwood Housing Association. Richard said: "The best thing about it is that it is brand new, it means we can make a fresh start. It should have happened years ago but we are very lucky it's happened now."

Under the scheme, around 300 of the estate's properties will now be demolished to make way for 100 new houses and bungalows.

And another 800 homes being fitted with new bathrooms, kitchens and central heating systems.

Supporting the new plans, deputy mayor of Preston, councillor Geoff Swarbrick, claimed that if the council did sell its houses to an association, all present council tenants would be living in homes with double glazing and central heating within the next five years.

But chairman of the housing committee, Coun Andy Campbell, said that the time was not right to go ahead with the scheme.

He said: "Our responsibilities are with the people of Preston, the majority of whom felt that we should look at other schemes. We need to take a step back and get more information to make a balanced judgement."

Pictured: Richard and Constance Walker receive a giant key to celebrate (K/1367)