RESIDENTS are seeking legal advice as they prepare to take out an injunction to stop a council redeveloping their homes.

People living in the 120 condemned houses and bungalows in Cuthbert's Walk and St Aidan's Walk, Bishop Auckland, want to stop Wear Valley District Council going ahead with the demolition until the compensation issue is resolved.

The homes are too dangerous to be left standing because they have asbestos in the walls and corrosive salts in the concrete foundations.

The 29 residents who bought their homes under the right-to-buy scheme have been told that the council cannot pay them more than the site value - which is less than the house market value.

Demolition of the homes, on the St Andrew's Estate, is scheduled for early next year but angry residents say they want assurances before the bulldozers move in.

At a meeting on Saturday, they voiced concern over the loss of rented housing and the health impact of demolition on those still living on the estate.

Betty Todd, who was at the meeting, said: "Most of the people who moved here in 1970 came from the category D villages of Witton Park and Eldon Lane. They lost their houses then and got no compensation for moving - and now it is happening to them again."

A delegation that will include three councillors from Wear Valley District Council and two residents will go to London to call for help from the Government which, they say, has a moral obligation to compensate them.

Opposition Councillor Chris Foote Wood said after the meeting said that he and the residents were opposed to phased demolition, which would leave some residents living among dereliction.

He said: "We need to stop the council from moving forward with the demolition.