Residents are holding a party to mark the start of the demolition

About 100 flats on the Stanhope Estate in Ashford will be pulled down over six days to make way for modern homes.

The flats were meant to last for 60 years when built in 1968 but design faults lead to problems with damp and meant many were uninhabitable.

The new homes will be a mix of rented housing, shared ownership with some available to be bought outright.

'Positive step'

People already living on the estate will be offered alternative accommodation while the regeneration takes place.

Stanhope resident, Carole Bonner, said: "Taking the flats down will be a positive step.

"I would have liked to see all the blocks of flats taken down personally but this at least is a start by taking these two blocks of flats down."

Councillor Neil Bell, from Ashford Borough Council, said: "We are knocking two blocks of flats with over 100 flats in them.

"Eventually we are hoping to knock down all nine with 400 flats and we will be replacing some pretty tired old building with modern, new safer cleaner buildings.

"We will be changing tenants, which are mainly authority tenants, for a mix of authority tenants, people who own their own flats and shared ownership as well.

"So that makes the whole community more integrated with Ashford as a whole."