RESIDENTS in Blackburn flats today called for action to help asylum seekers being targeted by vandals in their neighbourhood.

Three flats were damaged and several others vandalised when bricks were hurled through windows of ground floor properties in Peridot Close, Brownhill, yesterday.

A gang of four youths were blamed for the attack at 6am which singled out flats containing asylum seekers.

Residents are now fearful that the situation will get worse.

The properties have been leased out by Twin Valley Homes housing association to Blackburn with Darwen Council's asylum seeker team to house those in need.

There are currently more than 711 people in Blackburn and Darwen claiming asylum, many of whom are from the Middle East.

Joan Keys, 65, a nearby resident on the close, said: "I would not want to say this is a racial issue but they never seem to bother us.

"This lot are going to take it too far out of control. It is getting worse and worse."

She has put in a request that empty flats beneath her are not filled with asylum seekers. She said: "I fear it will attract more unrest".

Resident James Howarth, 74, has been left terrified by the disturbance and said many asylum seekers were too scared to go out at night.

"They are being targeted through no fault of their own but now we are being drawn in.

"They have ripped out wiring, covered the place in graffiti and smashed windows.

"My neighbours cannot speak English and need help. It is terrible."

But the area is not classed as a trouble hotspot by police.

PS Graham Ashcroft said: "Officers attended the scene to check and assess the damage. We are looking to establish what went on and the reasons behind the attack."

Twin Valley Homes, which took over the majority of Blackburn Council's housing stock in March 2001, lease out about 100 properties to the council for asylum seekers.

A spokesman said: "We lease out the properties to help the council carry out their statutory responsibility to house asylum seekers. We work with them to pick various properties of various types to suit a whole range of needs.

"Negotiations on properties are continuing to help cope with different situations and levels of need." The record number of asylum seekers in the UK has become a contentious issue for local authorities.

A compulsory dispersal system was introduced in April 2001 to house some 65,000 people across the country, away from the overloaded south east.

However, their presence in the country has been a source of tension for some.

Coun Maureen Bateson, executive member for citizens advice and consumer rights, said: "I am not aware of any trouble in that area but there have been isolated incidents in other areas.

"It causes me concern that any individual for any reason is a target of vandalism and different groups over time are targeted but there is no justification for it.

"I am sure that the necessary action will be taken."

A spokesman for Shelter, a charity working to help people with housing problems, said: "We are fighting the government head on with the new legislation which affects anyone who has been late in claiming asylum and which could make asylum seekers completely destitute.

"This situation could get worse.

"They are often given a really raw deal as it is, and are incorrectly labelled as a source of trouble and expense."

George Campling, director of rights, advice and entitlement, confirmed that asylum seekers lived in this property.

He said: "Some windows have been broken but, as this incident is being investigated by the police, it is inappropriate for us to comment further at this stage."