The demolition of eyesore flats in part of Bradford has been delayed by energy companies failing to disconnect meters from the empty properties, it is claimed.

The claim comes from Idle and Thackley Lib Dem Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, who says she is furious that utility companies are stopping the flats in Thorp Garth, Idle, being knocked down.

She says the flats cannot be pulled down until all the energy meters and supplies are removed and that the process is taking too much of social landlord Incommunities’ time when it should be spent keeping their other customers happy.

The flats have been empty for months and are boarded up.

But one of the utility companies hit back, stating the owners of the flats should have “made room” for the time it would take to disconnect the flats when planning to demolish them.

Coun Sunderland said: “I have some sympathy for the owners, Incommunities, as they cannot get the utility companies to take out the gas and electric meters.

“There are a number of companies involved such as British Gas, E-on, Northern Power, Transco and Yorkshire Water. With the average waiting time to get through to them being around 35 minutes this is a huge amount of wasted staff time.

“When they do get through, Incommunities staff have to book an appointment for the utility company to come out. The utility companies will only give one appointment at a time for each meter and will only give Incommunities staff a morning or afternoon appointment, so they have to spend hours hanging about waiting for them to come.Sometimes they fail to turn up which means the whole process has to start again.

“This is complete madness and a huge waste of time, not to mention money.

But what makes this even worse is that because the flats are now empty but not demolished, Incommunities has to pay the Council at least £20 per week in council tax for each flat. That's £660 per week and the last person moved out over three months ago. Good news for the Council, but bad news for other Incommunities tenants who perhaps would rather see the money spent on repairs.”

Now Bradford East MP David Ward is raising the matter with industry regulators to see if the rules for dealing with social landlords can be changed.

He said: “What a waste of time and money, not only of Incommunities staff but the utility companies themselves. I’m pretty sure their own customers would be angry at this.

“The real losers are other tenants who perhaps are waiting for repairs and for residents living around the flats who have to put up with the eyesore these flats are quickly becoming.”

A British Gas spokesman said utility companies had to be dealt with on an individual basis because it would be illegal for one company to remove another’s meter.

“There can’t be a single point of contact because there’s up to 30 companies on the market. The owners should have made room for this in their plans in advance.”