ABANDONED ST

30,000 Scots currently classed as homeless | 10,000 kids stuck in stopgap accommodation | But there's a street in Paisley where almost 100 derelict homes sit empty and crumbling

- DAN VEVERS

UP TO 100 former council houses have been left abandoned by a council in a "scandalous" failure to tackle the housing emergency, it has been claimed.

A street in Ferguslie, Paisley, now looks like "a set from a war movie" after years of neglect, locals said.

Images published today by the Record show blackened, boarded-up and crumbling buildings throughout the area where Scots desperately needing homes could be housed.

Labour MSP Katy Clark hit out: "This is a shocking example of homes being left to decay at a time when we face a homelessness crisis in this country." Renfrewshire Council said plans to demolish the blocks and rebuild on the land are well in hand.

However, a source who used to work for the local authority's housing department, claimed many of the homes could have been saved and refurbished relatively quickly instead of being knocked down.