PREPARATIONS to move tenants out of five tower blocks have left some residents frustrated.

The Telegraph & Argus revealed in May that Manchester Road flats Windsor Court, Bolingbroke Court, Stuart Court, Tudor Court and Hapsburg Court will all be razed within seven years because more than 50 per cent of flats in the blocks are empty.

Incommunities, the social-housing group responsible for the buildings, made the decision to move 150 households out of the blocks and re-locate them.

Residents have been given a list of alternative flats to move into and consultation meetings have been held with them to discuss their futures, but some have previously said how the impending move has left them feeling depressed.

John Walton, 29, who lives in Hapsburg Court with his partner, Declan Bracewell, 22, said: “We’ve had meetings about where we would like to go, but that was a couple of months ago.

“The buildings are now more out of date than ever and people are having problems getting out of the doors.

“They’ve told us about areas we can move to but not the actual accommodation.

“I’ve got concerns because there’s easy access to the city centre and a lot of buses, but if I move somewhere else with less transport links I’m screwed.”

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Mr Walton said the flats should remain standing and the housing group’s focus should be on renovating them instead of “creating disruption”.

“The flats should not be demolished,” he added.

“People need somewhere to live and demolishing them is not going to do anyone any favours.

“They need to update them and give them a complete overhaul to make them better.

“They shouldn’t be demolishing them.

“It shouldn’t come down to money or the welfare of people.

“People shouldn’t have to move home and be stressed out about going somewhere or thinking about travelling.”

An Incommunities spokesperson said: “We are in the process of meeting with each individual tenant to discuss on a one-to-one basis their rehousing choices.

“As we have just under 150 households to interview we anticipate that it could still be some time before we have all the information we need to develop our plans for decanting the blocks as we want to get this right.

“All tenants will be supported throughout the process and if they have any concerns or questions, we would encourage them to talk these through with their neighbourhood officer.”