WORK has officially started on a pioneering £1.9million starter homes development.

Bridge Walk Apartments are being constructed in Burnley's Weavers' Triangle is the blueprint for a string of government-backed schemes across the country,

The four-storey apartment block, aimed exclusively at first-time buyers between the ages of 23 and 40, is the first such project supported by cash from Whitehall’s Homes and Communities Agency.

As the steel framework rises from the remains of the former Clock Tower Mill in the Victorian industrial quarter by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, Burnley Council leader Cllr Mark Townsend hailed it as a major step forward in the borough plans to bring town centre living back to the town.

His joy has been reflected by Liberal Democrat opposition group leader Cllr Gordon Birtwistle.

After nine months of talks between the Labour-run council and the government’s HCA construction by Nelson-based Barnfield Investment Properties started in February and is on track to provide 16 two-bedroomed flats by the autumn.

Cllr Townsend said: “It is great to see these new flats rising above the Weavers' Triangle.

“It is key part of our plans to bring urban living back to Burnley town centre and we have already had a lot of interest.

“This is an example of a Labour council and a Conservative government co-operating for the good of the town and to design a pioneering scheme that will be replicated nationwide.

“When we started work on this project, a lot of critics though it was pie in the sky but no they can see it rising as an iconic, but not dominating, feature of the the town’s skyline.”

Cllr Birtwistle said: “I am delighted to see this scheme progressing so well.

“It brings together the history of the Weavers' Triangle with the future."