Villagers who won a fight to save their homes from demolition have offered to help local families facing the same threat.

Fay Serle, who took part in a successful campaign in her village of Ashwell, in North Hertfordshire, ten years ago sent a message of support to the residents of Carr Bank, Morton.

The link-up followed Norfolk builder Michael Spinks, reading last week's KN story about Carr Bank while on holiday in Skipton. His building company Carters' repair work helped residents of Ashwell, stay put.

Mr Spinks contacted the KN and put the newspaper in touch with Mrs Serle who said: "It's hell on earth and I can understand what they are going through. But we came through it."

Families on the Carr Bank council estate were told two weeks ago that 18 houses had to be demolished.

An independent engineer's survey carried out for the council deemed the Airey-style houses structurally unsound and recommended they were repaired or demolished within the year.

Like Carr Bank 18 houses in Ashwell were set to be razed to the ground as North Hertfordshire District Council said they could not afford the estimated £48,000 to repair each home -- Bradford's estimate is £34,000.

Residents of the Ashwell estate were told in 1992 that a council housing officer would be visiting each of them to discuss their re-housing needs. From then on residents united on a six-month assault on the council's plans.

Press and media exposure gave them widespread support and secured a building company able to repair the houses for a third of the council's estimated price.

North Hertfordshire District Council eventually caved in.

Mrs Serle says she is willing to advise Carr Bank folk in a fail-safe campaign.

"But residents have got to work together, and they can't afford to stand still, " she says.

Her first piece of advice is for residents to form a committee and get legal advice.

Ashwell campaigners were backed by a local property law expert. The Citizen's Advice Bureau is also a valuable source of information, Mrs Serle adds.

Keighley MP Ann Cryer has also pledged her support saying: "I am happy to explore every possibility for them. There may well be ways of doing this to preserve housing rather than demolishing.

"It's environmentally unsound to knock the houses down. It's destroying the community."

* A former member of Bradford's housing committee says the Labour council had planned to repair all Carr Bank's houses.

Keighley North's Cllr Martin Leathley was a committee member before last year's election divided council leadership between the Tories and Liberals.

The structures of 11 of the estates homes have been reinforced to meet safety requirements. He says: "We were looking for more funding to enable us to repair the rest.

"It slipped down to shortage of money. These houses should be repaired or replaced in-situ. Anything short of that would be a real affront to the people involved."

Bradford's housing department says: "We are in the process of consulting tenants and property owners in these houses to work out a constructive way forward.

"We have also commissioned an independent structural survey."