Angry residents of a rural housing estate have attacked plans to demolish their homes.

TBradford council say they have to pull the houses down because structural engineers say they are structurally unsound.

As the residents of the 29-house estate at Morton were attending a meeting at East Morton School last night, local environmentalists claimed Bradford Council was pandering to developers of the nearby Swine Lane site, where work has begun on 400 properties.

Penny Ward said: "One of the developers doesn't like the fact that these council houses are possibly going to reduce the value of posh houses being built. This lovely little community is going to be devastated."

But Cllr Kris Hopkins, Bradford's executive member for health and housing refutes, rumours that developers are behind it.

"We are doing structural surveys all over the district and last Friday we received a letter from an engineering company who said they are structurally unsound. They recommended the council demolished them."

Cllr Hopkins said the only other option would be to spend £34,000 on each house bringing it up to scratch.

He added that the tenants would be re-housed in another part of Keighley. Three residents have bought their homes.

Carr Bank tenant Jackie Kirk, who shares her home with her husband and children, says: "People around here are not going to move.

"I feel we're the forgotten estate up here. All the work done on this house I've done myself."

Sonia Coffey, who has a 16-month-old baby, said: "I've only been here a year and would be disgusted if I had to move."

Two of the developers -- Persimmon and Barratt -- say they know nothing about the rumour. Taywood did not comment.

Cllr Hopkins said it was not known what would happen to the site.