A BOROUGH has so many empty houses and business premises a specialist council officer has been hired to tackle them.

Hyndburn Council believes reducing the area’s estimated 2,000 disused properties would help prevent vandalism, falls in house prices and the risk of injury to children playing in them.

Council leader Peter Britcliffe, welcom-ed empty property officer Kevin Walsh, whose role is to tackle the large number of empty properties in the borough.

Mr Walsh, 43, previously worked for Blackburn with Darwen Council, starting out as a joiner in 1981 and moving to the role of regeneration surveyor 10 years ago.

Besides hiring Mr Walsh, plans include creating an empty properties database which will help investigations into each property so officers can more easily track down landlords and property owners.

Coun Britcliffe said: “We have a number of vacant or empty properties within the borough, and so we’ve created this new role to tackle the blight they can cause.

“Not only can they make a street, block of terrace look unsightly but they can be potentially dangerous, as properties left vacant for any great length of time are subject to intruders and flytipping.

“They can also become structurally unsafe, and problems with damp and dry rot can affect neighbouring properties and impact on house prices.”

Mr Walsh said “I hate to see empty prop-erties, it’s a waste when so many people need homes. I’ve worked in property all my life and I’m really looking forward to the challenge of tackling empty properties in Hyndburn.”

Owning an empty property can cost as much as £135 a week or £7,018 each year.

To report an empty property call 01254 388111 or visit strat@hyndburnbc.gov.uk