Mancunian Way: Living by candlelight in a crumbling block of flats

At first glance it appears to be an abandoned building site. Outside, piles of rubbish litter the overgrown grass.

The entire building is covered in scaffolding. Cracks can be seen in the walls and large gaps wide enough to fit your hand through run alongside the main window.

The dilapidated block of flats on Baguley Crescent on the outskirts of Middleton is not fit to live in. In fact it was condemned last year after a fire. And last month the electricity was cut off.

But despite that, a number of residents, some elderly and in poor health, remain in the dangerous and crumbling three-storey building. They’re living by candlelight, unable to cook or heat their homes, relying on friends and family to bring food and even sleeping in their cars.

They shouldn't be there, but they say they have nowhere else to go. Among them is 68-year-old Tony Henry. "We have nowhere to go," he said. "They need to put the electric back on and give people time to make arrangements to move.

"But nobody knows what's going on. It's wrong, it's shameful. They shouldn't be treating us like animals in a pen. I can’t handle it, it’s too much."

The reasons how and why the building was allowed to fall into such disrepair are complicated and unclear. The freeholder, a company based in south west London, says the individual leaseholders have legal responsibility for the maintenance of the block. The leaseholders we’ve been able to speak to say attempts have been made to carry out repairs, but the work has been delayed because tenants are still living there.

And, as we’ve already heard, those tenants say they’ve got nowhere else to go. You can read the full report here…

We’re going to visit another estate just up the road in Rochdale now. That’s