PROPOSALS to demolish almost 275 homes on a run-down estate look likely to be approved.

A report to Middlesbrough Borough Council's cabinet recommends that all but a handful of properties in Whickham Close, on North Ormesby's Trinity Estate, be demolished.

It suggests that compensation, home loss and disturbance payments be made to the residents, and that the council earmarks the area as a possible development site.

The proposal follows consultation with people on the 275-home estate, which comprises of bungalows, houses, flats and maisonettes.

Of the 70 per cent of residents who took part, most expressed a preference for some demolition, although the majority wanted the homes to be replaced.

Many highlighted problems with youths breaking windows, pulling down fences, drinking and taking drugs.

The report by Andy Snowden, corporate director for housing regeneration and culture, says: "It would appear that the situation is deteriorating, and several complaints per week now relate to these issues.

"Daily calls are made to the area housing team, though many residents are afraid to pursue matters formally."

Maureen Moore, 67, of Linsley Close, said: "There is a lot of trouble with kids, and I have got drug addicts living nearby.

"There is rubbish everywhere - it is like a slum. It used to be lovely, but over the past four or five years, things have gone downhill. Now a lot of people are leaving."

Another resident, who did not want to be named, said: "They can do what they like - there is hardly anyone left."

A survey in the report indicates that more than 17 per cent of council properties on the estate are empty, compared with 3.4 per cent for Middlesbrough as a whole.

It shows that almost 66 per cent of people who were offered homes there, from April 1999 to November last year, turned them down.

The cost of bringing the estate up to standard over the next 30 years is estimated as £9.6m, compared with £2.7m to demolish it.

Councillors are asked to consider how Whickham Close could be improved by outside investment