Ruth Kelly, the Communities Secretary has stepped in to stop 152 homes in East Lancashire being demolished by Blackburns Darwen Council.

The decision was taken to demolish the homes as part of the Governments housing renewal programme but Kelly opted to intervene following a report from a planning inspector, who recommended denying the application for a compulsory purchase order (CPO).

A letter from a government official to Darwen Council says: "Kelly agrees with the inspectors view that the council has not put together a suffiently strong case for demolition. Overall, she takes the view that clearance action must be fully justified in all circumstances."

The letter highlighted thirteen "relevant objections" to the CPO application.