SCORES of homes could be bulldozed because they contain asbestos and have structural defects which may prove too expensive to repair.

The 120 properties are in two streets on the St Andrew's Estate in Bishop Auckland, where tests were carried out at the end of last year.

Wear Valley District Council, which owns most of the estate, would recoup demolition costs by selling off the land, probably for a mixture of private and housing association development.

The council checked the 40-year-old Drury-built houses and bungalows in St Aidan's Walk and St Cuthbert's Walk after defects were found in similar steel-framed homes in the North-West of England.

Their problems lie in the foundations, where metal posts are set in concrete containing corrosive salts.

Asbestos was discovered on the estate a year ago when engineers installing central heating in a house found a trace of the material in an internal wall panel.

Total repair bills for underpinning the homes and clearing asbestos could reach £500,000, more than £40,000 per property, and council officers consider this would be uneconomic.

One tenant, who did not wish to be named, said: "We've all been worried. Nobody would tell us what was happening."

Michael Kelleher, the new head of neighbourhood operations, promised yesterday that tenants and owners would be consulted before any decision was taken.

He said: "There is no immediate danger but the properties have a limited life.

"Even if we spend the money on repairs, we would still not have homes of the standard we want to offer our tenants.

"Our aim is to minimise the disturbance to people on the estate.

"We recognise that some may want to stay together as a community and this would be done wherever possible.

"We will work together with the residents to give them what they want. The whole process will be phased and could take two or three years."

Chairman of housing at Wear Valley District Council Councillor Belle Bousfield said: "I would like to reassure the residents of the St Andrew's Estate that no decision will be made about the future of their homes until we have carried out an extensive period of consultation with them.'