A row of condemned bungalows on a Shipley estate - branded the worst housing in Bradford by a ward councillor - is due to be demolished.

Councillor Phil Thornton (Lab, Shipley East) said he was delighted by news that demolition work on the dozen boarded-up homes on West Royd Avenue should start over the next few days.

And he said knocking down run-down blocks of flats on the same estate would pave the way for the land to be sold and the area re-developed.

Councillor Thornton said: "It's long overdue but very welcome. It had been clear for a long time that these bungalows were well past their sell-by date and among the worst housing in the whole district.

"No proper work had been carried out on them since they were built before the war and it would have cost far too much to bring them up to scratch, so knocking them down is really the only available option.

"The residents there were very concerned because they were living in cold, damp, miserable conditions. I wouldn't live in those conditions myself and wouldn't expect any of my constituents to either.

"The last residents moved out a few months ago and since then the bungalows have become a bit of a magnet for vandals and criminals.

"I'm thankful that we've been able to deal with the problem. Selling off the land will give the Council some valuable capital receipts and hopefully the site can be re-developed for housing or maybe even as a car park for people in that area who don't have drives or garages.''

A decision was taken to re-house the bungalows' residents last autumn after urgent talks between ward councillors, housing chiefs and police, following a Telegraph & Argus report in which they said they were living in "squalor and fear'' amid conditions that were "unfit for an animal to live in''.

In June a block of boarded-up flats on nearby Woodend Crescent was demolished, following a call for action by Shipley MP Chris Leslie, who compared the living conditions there to those in Dickensian slums.

Plans to demolish a second block on Woodend Crescent and more than a dozen others on Leeds Road, before selling off the land, are also being looked at.

Councillor Thornton said: "Once all the other blocks of flats have been demolished we can move ahead with re-developing and improving that whole Leeds Road corridor.''

A council spokesman said: "The West Royd bungalows are being demolished in the next few days due to the low demand for this type of property.

"In Woodend Crescent a number of flats have also been demolished.

"The Council is currently reviewing the best way forward for this area in general and discussing future options with interested housing associations and other developers.''