RESIDENTS fighting to save their homes from demolition are hoping to take the controversial decision to court.

Campaigners in the Gresham area of Middlesbrough are talking to lawyers and are hoping to be granted legal aid to allow them to take their battle over the plans to demolish 1,500 houses to a judicial review.

They said there has been little consultation over the proposals to bulldoze the terraced houses, and fear they will be unable to afford to buy anywhere else.

Residents have held demonstrations and meetings over Middlesbrough Council's plan to pull down the properties for redevelopment. The council believes many houses are empty and that few first- time buyers want to live in the area.

Residents' spokesman Majahid Aslam said he found that hard to believe: "Everybody wants a semi-detached house and a garden, but we have to be realistic.

"People living in the town centre are on the minimum wage and cannot afford to buy a house at Ingleby Barwick, let alone earn enough money to be considered for a mortgage. We would struggle to buy a house in Linthorpe."

Labour Councillor Ken Walker backed the residents' move and questioned the process taken so far by the council.

He said: "I think the residents are right and I hope they are able to get the funding. I think it is the way forward in questioning the propriety of the way this has been handled by Middlesbrough Council.

"Consultation with the community over this has been virtually non-existent."

He said the £11,000 it would cost to demolish each house should be spent on modernising them instead.

However, Labour Councillor David Budd said it would not be viable long-term. He said: "I think there has been a great deal of consultation and there is no doubt that the process has been done correctly. It has even been through the scrutiny board."

He said there was no finalised plan for the area, but that there would be fewer houses, with more space for each. He said: "This is not radical stuff. This, arguably, should have happened some time ago."