Council officials have been attempting without success to trace the owners of 62 Emily Street and 3 Elm Road.

Finally they used a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) to take over both addresses.

Councillor Richard Ferry, executive member for Urban Regeneration, said:  "It became apparent that both of these properties were abandoned with no likelihood of the owners coming forward and the decision was made to use Compulsory Purchase powers.

"The reoccupation of long-term empty properties throughout the Borough is essential to provide good quality affordable housing for our residents.

"Reoccupation is also essential to improve the 'liveability' factor in all our neighbourhoods by reducing the number of empty properties that may be targets for vandalism and fly tipping. Through targeting these properties it is also hoped to raise the overall standard of properties."

"We hope this sends out a clear message to property owners that we will take action if properties are left empty for longer than six months.  This is something we will not tolerate. The CPO process is just one of the options available to the Council  in dealing with empty properties as the Government has introduced many more powers to tackle this increasingly important issue."

Officials are now considering using CPO power on four more address - 26 Abberley Close, 62 Morris Street, 1 Telford Drive, and 40 Conway Drive.