VILLAGERS have voiced their concern about a number of council-owned flats that have been standing empty for up to a year.

Fourteen of the two-bedroom apartments are unoccupied in Evenwood, near Barnard Castle, with little hope of tenants being found.

The rent is £40.47 a week, so Teesdale District Council is losing about £566 a week on the Shirley Close properties.

Neighbours are protesting that the gardens have become overgrown and at least two of the flats, which were built in the 1960s, have been vandalised, giving the area a run-down appearance.

Ken Walton, who lives in nearby Manor Court, said: "Some of these places have been standing idle for up to a year, so the total of lost rent is colossal. A lot of people are furious. That money could have been used to improve other housing or provide extra services. Surely something could have been done to find a solution."

Mr Walton, a former council chairman, said three shops had closed in the village in the past year. He said: "The population must have dropped due to flats being empty, and that must be bad news for local shopkeepers."

Councillor Raymond Gibson, who lives in nearby Shirley Terrace, said: "I feel sorry for the families still living in the street, as some have spent a lot of time and money making their homes look good.

"Some have bought their flats from the council, but it is tough luck that they are so near the empty apartments, which are becoming a real eyesore."

Peter Slack, manager of the district council's housing and community business unit, said: "These flats are a serious problem. The sad fact is that nobody seems to want them.

"We have advertised them in the Press and on the Internet but there are no takers.

"We have a waiting list for traditional houses in Evenwood. Single people want flats now and again, but at the moment we can't even find couples who would like one."

He said several options were being studied.

One possibility was to try to sell the flats to first-time buyers. Another was to demolish them and pass the site over to a housing association to build family houses.

"It seems to be a general case in the North-East that flats like this are no longer wanted," he said.