DEMOLITION of a notorious little pocket of Basingstoke has begun.

Contractors have started tearing down the dilapidated Longfellow Parade shops and 50 flats in Popley.

The demolition marks the beginning of the final phase of Sentinel Housing Association’s £15million regeneration scheme which will deliver 99 new homes and three new shops in the Dryden Close and Milton Close area.

Councillor Cathy Osselton, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council Cabinet member for housing and health, said: “Thank God they’re coming down. Those flats needed to be regenerated.”

She said the demolition work sent out the message that, despite the credit crunch, refurbishment was continuing in Basingstoke, adding: “There’s a lot more in Basingstoke that needs knocking down.”

The latest phase will deliver 42 affordable homes – 30 rented and 12 in shared ownership.

The area was a maze of passageways and had been subject to complaints about antisocial behaviour.

Sentinel chief executive Martin Nurse said he was pleased work was beginning to tear down Longfellow Parade which had been a problem for a long time.

He said: “It’s a great day for Popley and for the people who live here.”

Once the work is complete, the housing association will examine what could be done to improve the external appearance of other parts of the estate, he said.

Neighbouring residents had mixed feelings about the regeneration scheme.

Pensioner Ron Upton, 71, feared the new homes would not go to local families.

The Milton Close resident added: “I’m not sorry to see the back of the flats over the shops and if they put the right people in there it won’t be as bad.”

Fellow Milton Close resident Jamie Duckett, 32, a supervisor for a Basingstoke-based company, was unhappy that the shops had been relocated further away off Shakespeare Road, but added: “It should be better when it’s done.”

His aunt Julie Heath, 68, who is retired, said although she was glad to see the demolition, she had hoped there would be fewer flats and more family homes.

She said: “I think the new stuff is not in keeping with the rest of the estate.”