Middlesbrough Council promises £1m to buy eyesore buildings

The Park End pub was left to deteriorate for about three years, Middlesbrough Council said

Council leaders have pledged up to £1m to buy "eyesore" sites blighting Middlesbrough's image.

Last year the council published a list of 11 "eyesore" sites, including the Park End and Crown and Mitre pubs, asking owners to spruce them up.

Now the council has set aside the money to buy the offending properties and bulldoze or redevelop them.

Site owners will be asked if they are willing to sell and if not, compulsory purchase orders will be considered.

The Crown and Mitre in North Ormesby was listed on the "eyesore" list

The council's director of regeneration, Richard Horniman, said: "These buildings and sites are a blight on particular areas.

"We said that we would take action to try and do something about them by putting the pressure on the owners and potentially going all the way through to a compulsory purchase order."

The site of the former Middlehaven pub in Stockton Street is considered an "eyesore"

The list also included the site of the former Quoit Club, in Addington Drive, the Middlehaven pub and the old Roseberry Petrol Station, in Acklam Road.

It also included the Park End pub, in Penistone Road, which the council said had been left to deteriorate for about three years.

However, since the list was released some sites now have new uses or are being developed.

In February 2021, a successful planning application was submitted to transform the former Liberty's nightclub into four industrial units.

Potential sites will need to have a business case drawn up and be approved by the directors of regeneration and culture and finance, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The owner will then be contacted to try and voluntarily acquire the site but if that is not possible then the council may consider compulsory purchase powers.