Thousands of people living in misery in run-down houses across the district were given a lifeline today under a new £800 million government deal.

Bradford is one of 17 areas named as Pathfinders Today in the government's initiative for communities.

And although Bradford Council will not say which areas will benefit from the cash - a £12 million pot is available for the first year and could help up to 4,000 households - the news was welcomed by the city.

But under the deal some problem estates could be torn down. Tony Blair says the answer could be to bulldoze them.

In Bradford, one possible target for the initiative could be Ravenscliffe, visited by Home Secretary Jack Straw in January, where today families said they would not be sorry to see the 1920 estate razed to the ground as part of the scheme.

About 80 council houses stand empty on the estate and are used by drug users and criminals.

Secretary of Ravenscliffe and Greengates Residents' Association Audrey Raistrick said: "I would not be sorry to see it pulled down and built again. It was put up in the 1920s and now no one wants to live in it, not even the homeless."

She said although the estate was in an area which had won thousands of pounds from the government single regeneration budget, it could not be spent on housing.

Under the new deal, the council will work in partnership to choose a deprived neighbourhood which would benefit from intensive focused regeneration.

The scheme would also tackle the problems of crime and unemployment.

The district is listed 28th of 44 local authorities with the highest concentration of deprivation in a report published today by the government's social exclusion unit.

Bradford Council will now choose a neighbourhood to benefit from the cash. Chairman of the housing sub committee Councillor Jim O'Neill would not comment which were in the running but said: "It is terrific that Bradford has been chosen. We could go through a holistic approach, choosing a geographic area, rather than an estate.

"We could actually do several estates in the area. We are well on the way because we are already working on a new system of pocket regeneration in Bradford."

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