FLATS on a run-down council estate are to be demolished, to the delight of a residents' group.

Sedgefield Borough Council, in County Durham, has announced a programme of demolitions, which is part of a strategy to reduce the high number of empty properties that it owns.

A total of 59 properties are to be demolished in the coming year, many of them in the west end of Newton Aycliffe, where a number of homes have already been pulled down.

Houses in Langdale Place, Eskdale Place, Honister Place, Whinlatter Place and Kirkstone Place are to go.

Enid Paylor, of the Williamfield Residents Association, said: "There are quite a few we would like to see the back of.

"They are having great difficulty in letting them and they have been standing empty for a long time, so knocking them down is the only option left."

Other properties that are planned for demolition include eight flats in Callerton Rise, Newton Aycliffe, and 12 flats and two houses in Thirlmere Road, Ferryhill.

The cost of carrying out the demolitions has been estimated at £320,000, plus £42,000 home loss payments for the tenants who will have to be relocated.

The council is also planning to knock down 66 garages in the next year, in Newton Aycliffe and Ferryhill.