A PLEA is being made to a council to lift a town centre neighbourhood from "uncertainty'' by reconsidering plans to demolish hundreds of homes.

In 2005, Middlesbrough Council announced plans to bulldoze 1,500 terracee homes and build 750 houses in a massive regeneration scheme.

But protestor Ashley Marron says that with only a fraction of the houses bought and no other action taken, two years on from the announcement, uncertainty remains across the 38 streets at the heart of the plan.

He said: "As of August 28, Middlesbrough Council purchased 95 properties within the proposed Gresham and Middlehaven ward demolition area, or just over six per cent of the total acquisition target of 1,500 homes.

"Nothing has been demolished and nothing new has been built, a full two years on. If they can only buy up six per cent in two years, then it will take at the current rate 34 years to buy people out.

"I urge the council to reconsider its plans and be a little more realistic.''

Mr Marron said that data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act also reveals the average price offered by the council is just under £47,000 a house.

He added: "All we have to look forward to is perhaps a decade or more of uncertainty and the realisation that whatever Middlesbrough Council offers, it will never be enough to buy a decent home.''

Tennyson Street resident Eddie Johnson, 66, says some residents who are pensioners will not be able to take on mortgages to bridge the gap between what the council is offering for their houses and the cost of buying a new place to live.

A council spokesman said: "We have acquired more than 100 properties. Given the fact that the funding for our older housing regeneration plans was only confirmed a year ago, that is good progress. It is also significant that only seven people in the area we're currently concentrating on have declined to negotiate a sale with us.

"There has been no change in our proposals for the regeneration of older housing in and around central Middlesbrough, which have been supported locally, regionally and nationally.

"They will help create a sustainable town centre community with a decent, safe environment and good quality of life. We are, of course, keeping people in the area informed and up-to-date on the progress we are making.