THE government has been bitterly attacked by local MPs over its failure to lift the blight on homes along the route of the now cancelled M62 relief road.

Tory David Sumberg and Labour's Terry Lewis joined forces to demand urgent action from Roads Minister John Watts.

Bury South MP Mr Sumberg tackled Mr Watts during Transport Questions in the Commons.

He said: "Although my constituents were delighted when you announced the cancellation of the M62 relief road, they are less than delighted now. "The management of the houses by your agents is appalling. Many houses are still boarded up, there is a question mark over the safety of the gas boilers in some houses, and my constituents cannot sell their homes at anything like the market value.

"It is totally unsatisfactory to keep on denying them compensation for the loss in many cases of their life savings." Mr Watts said it was not possible for the Department of Transport to buy the homes at the original market value now the scheme had been abandoned.

But, he said, he had taken steps to speed the rate of disposal of the properties by introducing sales by auction.

So far 70 of the homes have been sold with 42 in the pipeline.

Worsley MP Mr Lewis called for Mr Watts to take over the sales from the Highways Agency.

He said: "The devaluing of whole areas of property caused by the handling of the issue is disgraceful."

Mr Watts said the poor condition of the property was normally the result of vandalism or of ill treatment by temporary tenants. He said: "The best way to bring comfort to the remaining owner/occupiers is to dispose of our holdings as rapidly as possible so that we no longer exert a blighting influence on the neighbourhood."

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