By Kevin Bocquet BBC North of England correspondent

Jean Battle was born and raised in Accrington.

Walking through the area where she grew up, she reflects on how much it has changed.

"It was filthy dirty and there was massive pollution. It must have been so unhealthy.

"But it was busy. There were mills, factories and foundries. Everyone was occupied and everyone had work."

Forty years later, most of the mills and factories have closed, but the terraced houses remain, two-up two-downs, row upon row of them with their backyards opening onto cobbled alleys.

Many of them are empty. They are owned by landlords who can't find tenants.

There are currently 125,000 empty properties in the north-west of England alone.

But in the area where Jean was born, the scarred industrial landscape is about to change forever.

Industrial areas

Two hundred terraced houses in the area, known as Lower Antley, will be demolished over the next five years.

Critics say it is ironic that, at the same time the government is planning to demolish homes in the north, it is building houses on green field sites in the south of England

The development which will replace them will include a health centre, a small business unit and about 30 new homes.

It's part of the government's Pathfinder project, under which nine former industrial areas in the north of England and the Midlands have already received funding for redevelopment.

On Wednesday, the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott announced a massive injection of new money to build on the Pathfinder scheme.

In Accrington, government minister Ian McCartney said: "It'll give a massive boost to communities suffering from poor housing, poor environments and inadequate infrastructure."

Jean Battle, who's deputy leader of Hyndburn Council, said the investment was bound to give the area a much needed boost.

"It can only make things better," she said.

"This is the kind of investment that's needed across the whole of east Lancashire."

Better housing

But critics say it is ironic that, at the same time the government is planning to demolish homes in the north, it is building houses on green field sites in the south of England.

There's still a huge imbalance between the North and South Professor Michael Parkinson

Hyndburn Council admits not all the properties listed for demolition in Accrington are derelict.

Many are still structurally sound. Similar properties in some parts of London would be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Professor Michael Parkinson, an urban regeneration expert from Liverpool's John Moore's University, welcomes the government's plan to provide better housing and a more attractive environment.

But he says the real challenge will be to provide employment to encourage people to return to former industrial towns.

'Heavy pollution'

Professor Parkinson said: "There's still a huge imbalance between the North and South.

"London and the south east are paying the price for their success with heavy pollution, congestion, slow traffic and high house prices.

"If there were better opportunities in the northern towns and cities people would come here to work and then there would be no problem with houses lying empty."

Mr McCartney said the government was working tirelessly to stimulate employment in the north.

He said: "The Northwest Regional Development Association has been given a budget of 300 million pounds to create jobs and already we're seeing more industrial development in east Lancashire than we have seen in a generation."