TWO residents have used 'people power' to get an eyesore transformed into a beautiful garden.

The piece of land, which runs alongside the road in Hawkshaw Avenue, Darwen, had become overgrown and rubbish strewn and attempts to trace the owner had failed.

But neighbours John Margerison and Peter Stone, who viewed the mess from their windows for more than ten years, decided to get something done.

They organised a consultation and successfully bid for £5,000 of Blackburn with Darwen Council money to tidy up the area. John, 56, said: "The area was nothing but scrub and litter and was an eyesore.

"It had been left to overgrow for years so we decided to put out a questionnaire to our neighbours asking them how they would feel if we tidied it up.

"All but one was in favour of doing something, so with the help of various people including Anna Ainscough, development officer for the council, and Sean Monaghan from the council, we managed to get it done. It's a joy to look at now.

"We got funding through the council and we have now got £700 worth of flowers on the land. You need people to work together to get something done and this just shows what you can get done with a bit of help."

Next-door neighbour Peter, 60, said: "It's not council-owned and no one seems to know who owns it so we thought if no one else is going to do it, we would have to.

"We saw a notice in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph about a neighbourhood learning planning meeting being held at Earcroft Community Base and we decided to go along to see what we could do. Coun Moira Barrett gave us a lot of advice too. It's been amazing, really. I never thought we'd get it done when we started and my plan was to tidy it up myself but I have had an illness so I can't do the physical part any more.

"The grass used to grow six feet high and into the road and used to get a bit dangerous."

Anna Ainscough said: "They did a lot of work between them including consulting neighbours, writing a newsletter and delivering more than 1,000 leaflets about what they were intending to do.

"They interviewed different council departments and officers. They did really well."