A RUN-DOWN street in Ponty-pool is set to be pulled down and the land sold to developers.

All 85 properties in Edward Street, Brynwern - fewer than 50 of which are occupied - would be demolished at a cost of £265,000.

The land would be sold to private developers or a housing association for around £290,000 under the scheme by Torfaen council.

Forty-five tenants and two owner occupiers will all be offered alternative accommodation by the council, which has allocated £200,000 to compensate residents. The plans were drawn up following a residents' survey and an exhibition held over three days in one of the properties.

Most residents agreed with the proposals, which are to be voted on at the council's cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Huw Corfield, 55, chairman of the Edward Street Residents' Association, said: "I'm not at all troubled. It has deteriorated to the extent that nobody really wants to live here and it would cost the council an inordinate amount of time and money to put it right."

He said residents would be given a choice of three alternative homes, a displacement allowance of £1,500 and compensation for the move.

Fellow residents' association member Mollie Powell, 45, of number 13, said she would be "glad to get away" from the street's problems of crumbling empty houses and vandalism.

A council spokesman said: "We are very pleased with the level of residents' involvement in the consultation and public exhibition that have taken place."

But some older residents are against the proposals. One, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "I have lived here 60 years and there are a lot of memories here. Still, if it is to be, then it's better for us to go along with it."

*Pictured: Edward Street, which has become run-down