IT was once a bustling community home to hundreds of shipyard workers during the area's golden age of shipbuilding in the 1920s.

But the Clune Park estate in Port Glasgow is now virtually deserted with just 20 hardy souls living in a small number of the 430 squalid flats.

10 Just 20 people now live in 430 rundown flats in the Clune Park estate, in Port Glasgow Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

10 A small number of residents are refusing to leave the ghost-like estate Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

Rents are as little as £250 a month Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

Arsonists have started 14 fires in the estate in the last eight months Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

The local authority has bought 165 of the flats and issued 'closing orders' Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

The ghost-like estate is earmarked for demolition but private landlords are refusing to sell up.

Stephen McCabe, Leader of Inverclyde Council, said: "It is a decimated, isolated community. It is a blight on the landscape.

"It is one of first things you see coming into Port Glasgow on the train. It would remind you of somewhere like Chernobyl."

But with rents as low as £250 a month for a one-bed flat and flats selling for around £4,000, some residents are happy to stay put.

Julie Kane, 56, has lived on the estate for two-and-a-half years after moving from the Isle of Skye where she lived for more than 20 years.

She pays £250 a month for her one-bed flat and despite thinking the area was like a 'mini Beirut' when she moved in, she loves her home and finds the area 'peaceful'.

Julie, originally from Yorkshire, said: "I've got connections in Glasgow through family and was going to move into Glasgow city centre but the rents were outrageous.

"Somebody said try over here and at first when I saw the place I thought 'Oh my god, a mini Beirut'.

"At that point there was a lot of complaints from tenants about drug addicts and things but the flat was brilliant for the price so I thought I'd give it six months and I've been here ever since.

10 The once thriving estate is now home to just a handful of residents Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

10 The Clune Park estate in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, is home to just 20 people in 430 flats Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

10 Plans to bulldoze the tenement blocks has resulted in a long and bitter battle between Inverclyde Council and private landlords refusing to sell up Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

10 Jim Cameron, 60, is one of the few residents left living on the gritty estate Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

"I was like 'my goodness, I can actually stay here and work', and I have gone down to part-time because of my cheap rent."

She wants to see the estate occupied by working people seeking affordable rents and believes money should be invested to bring the buildings up to scratch.

Julie said: "When I first moved in I was a bit wary, there were junkies and gangs on the street.

"There was open prostitution and drugs going on, but that's all gone.

"I've no fear of walking around - it's peaceful."



CRIME ON ESTATE

In the past eight months, arsonists have started 14 fires in the estate and thieves hunting for scrap metal to sell have smashed through walls in abandoned buildings.

Pensioner Marie Morrison, who has lived in the area for nearly 40 years, believes the warnings are justified but refuses to move regardless.

She said: "I don't feel it's safe to live around here.

"These houses are going on fire quite regularly, there was one the other week. A lot of people are saying it's deliberate."

Jim Cameron, 60, who has lived on the estate all his life, added: "All the houses were full when I stayed on Montgomery Street, then I got married and moved over the street.

"Maxwell Street used to be a good street but now it's a dive."

DEMOLITION PLANS

Plans to bulldoze the flats has resulted in a long and bitter battle between Inverclyde Council and private landlords refusing to sell up.

The local authority has bought 165 of the flats and issued 'closing orders' - meaning the homes cannot be inhabited - on another 90.

However private landlords own the remaining properties.

Councillor Michael McCormick, Convener of Inverclyde Council's Environment and Regeneration Committee, said: "In the council's opinion all of the flats on the estate are Below the Tolerable Standard (BTS) - they don't meet the basic requirements to be classed as fit for people to live in.

"And the results of several, recent, independent surveys have done nothing to change this view.

"The poor physical and social conditions in the area, combined with the level of input required from Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue and Inverclyde Council, clearly shows that the private housing market has failed and that large-scale, planned intervention is urgently needed.

"Six buildings now have active Demolition Orders against them.

"The council is working towards demolishing all the buildings and clearing the site to allow this neglected part of Port Glasgow to be regenerated.

MOST READ IN NEWS HAPPY MEAL McDonald’s worker pays customer’s bill after he calls mum to ask for her order Latest 'BIG FRIENDLY BEAR' First pics of sergeant shot dead at police station as pals pay tribute HERE WE SNOW! Leeds hit by SNOW as temps plummet to -5 as Brits brace for 65mph gusts today Exclusive GRIM FIND Cadaver dogs smell HUMAN REMAINS by Carole Baskin's missing husband's lake house Exclusive HAPPY MEAL McDonald’s worker who paid for lad’s meal has secretly bought food for MONTHS EUGE NEWS Princess Eugenie 'so excited' to be expecting baby as Andrew & Fergie share joy

"A decade ago it was estimated that it would cost £36.5million to refurbish these buildings.

"They have deteriorated even more since then. We are making steady progress in terms of acquiring these undesirable properties.

"But the remaining owners need to recognise that the only future for these homes is demolition and, frankly, the sooner the better."

10 The local authority has gradually been buying up properties across the five blocks but some landlords are refusing to sell up Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

10 Homes, a church and shops in the estate are all now boarded Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

10 Flats on the estate cost as little as £4,000 to buy Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

10 Clune Park in Port Glasgow has been described as a ghost town Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.