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A man who refuses to allow his home to be demolished has revealed what life is like in the last house standing on a Merseyside estate.

Charlie Wright, 66, was born and raised in his house on Ilchester Road, Birkenhead - but the council estate which once surrounded his home has since been torn down.

His four-bedroom terrace house is now the last property left on the once-busy street, where Charlie and eight of his siblings were brought up.

Charlie said: "I was born in this house. All our family lived here, there were nine of us. Once they got married, they moved and I was the last one - me and me mam.

(Image: Jason Roberts / Liverpool Echo)

"When you're born in a house, it's a part of your life, it's a part of you. I wouldn't move for any one."

Despite being bordered by two derelict houses and having no neighbours left, Charlie said life in the last house standing on the Wirral estate isn’t as lonely as you might imagine.

He said: "I only have to walk up the road with the dog, everyone knows me and I know them. As long as I can get out every day, I'm alright.

"Half of them were born on this estate you see - proper community."

(Image: Jason Roberts / Liverpool Echo) (Image: Jason Roberts / Liverpool Echo)

However, Charlie has seen a lot of changes in his life on Ilchester Road - and the area isn't what it used to be when he was growing up.

While he might not feel lonely living in the last remaining part of the estate, he admitted he misses what it was like when his family all lived around him.

Charlie said: "This estate, it was families and the brothers and sisters of everyone - you knew everyone on the estate. When they grew up and got married, they got a house on the estate.

"All my aunties and uncles lived on this estate. My granny at the top and my mam had always lived here.

"When my mam had kids and got married, she got a house down there and, when she had more kids, they had to give her a bigger house so she got this four bedroom.

(Image: Jason Roberts / Liverpool Echo)

"The whole family, everyone on this estate, had relatives living round the corner or down the road."

Charlie doesn't live on his own at the property - a close friend moved in around 15 years ago after losing his mother and divorced Charlie kindly opened his home so his friend wouldn’t be alone.

He bought his family home over 30 years ago - and refuses to leave the property for anything or anyone.

With its bright yellow front door and Union Jack flags flying proudly outside, Charlie said his unusual decoration scheme is because "if anyone comes near this house, it will be World War III."

(Image: Jason Roberts / Liverpool Echo)

Charlie used to work for Mobil Oil, just round the corner from his family home. He said: "All my life, the only road I crossed since I was 16 was that bottom road."

He added: "In them days, the work round here was unbelievable. Me sisters worked at the flour mills, Ranks’ flour mills, you had Spillers, you had the graving dock where me arl fella worked over the road, then you had Sam Owens’, Mobil Oil, top of the road was the coal wharf, further down by the bridge was the iron ore.

"You could walk out of one job into another one."

Despite the changes he’s seen around him, Charlie is adamant he will never leave the Birkenhead home where he was born and has spent his entire life.