A PROJECT manager of a £3million Blackburn housing estate which has failed to sell has admitted he is "surprised" it is still empty.

The 20-house block in Hamilton Street, in the Infirmary area, is surrounded in barbed wire more than a year after it was "finished".

Residents said the boarded-up site has become an eyesore and a magnet for vandals.

The developer, Milstream Ltd, has not yet been tracked down and it is thought the man behind the scheme is overseas.

Council bosses said it was not finished properly, but contract administrator Ivor Conway claimed there was "no reason" for it to be deserted.

Mr Conway, who was listed as the agent on the planning application but is no longer involved with the project, said: "I was employed by Milstream Ltd which was the developer.

"It's been fenced off since the start of the project.

"As far as I'm concerned, my job was completed last year and there's no reason why they couldn't put them on the market.

"It's as simple as that. All they had to do, and I told them this at the time, was not put them all on the market at the same time.

"They should have done four at a time, but they had this idea to sell them all in one go.

"I organised planning permission, contractors, and sorted out the building regulations. It was all finished in April, 2007, and I have been paid.

"I am a bit surprised with what's happened to be honest. There may be some tech-nicalities that haven't been completed, but the houses themselves are finished."

A spokeswoman for the Land Registry said the plot, a former rest home, was bought by Milstream in 2001 for £160,000. The development had been correctly registered with the registry, she said.

Blackburn with Darwen planning officers said they have no powers because the development was not yet finished and they have not signed it off.

It is thought the owner is now trying to sell the entire complex, which is just yards from the site of a new development under the Elevate regeneration scheme that will bring hundreds more homes to the area.