Housing estate described as being 'like Chernobyl'

But it's a hard sell for estate agents, with buildings at risk of "catastrophic collapse" and Inverclyde Council describing the estate as a "festering wound".

The estate, built in the 1920s, once housed hundreds of shipyard workers but is now home to around 20 people scattered in those of the area's 430 flats which the council has not managed to declare 'closed'.

Photographs of the area make it hard to believe this 'ghost town' is inhabited at all. Saplings sprout from the tower of the abandoned church, windows are broken or boarded up, and fire damage is evident in an area now plagued by vandalism and arson attacks. Former shops are shuttered in this once thriving area of barely a dozen streets.

Inverclyde Council fervently wishes to level the area and has a plan to build new social housing in the north part of the estate at a total cost of £9m. Refurbishing the existing 45 buildings and reducing the number of properties by 70 would cost £33m – at least according to a masterplan for the area approved by councillors in May 2011.

The local authority has bought 165 of the flats and issued 'closing orders' – meaning the homes cannot be inhabited – on another 90.

Read  more: Long-term empty homes in Scotland up 5.5% in a year

But their ambitions for Clune Park have been frustrated, as a handful of local landlords refuse to sell up.

Landlords owning 96 properties – around a quarter of the total – have put up a stiff resistance, and dispute the compensation on offer. In 2016 Sheriff Derek Hamilton revoked a series of test cases saying the council cash for demolitions was based on ‘flawed’, ‘inadequate’ and ‘tainted’ assumptions.

Inverclyde Council continues to insist all of the properties are below habitable standard, having described the estate in a factsheet as a 'festering wound', with buildings at risk of 'catastrophic collapse' and 'potential tragedy'.

In the past eight months, arsonists have started 14 fires there and thieves looking for scrap metal to sell have smashed through walls in abandoned buildings.

The handful of residents who are clinging on are either unwilling to leave or cannot afford to.

Pensioner Marie Morrison, who has lived in the area for nearly 40 years, believes the warnings are justified but refuses to move regardless.

She said: "I don't feel it's safe to live around here. These houses are going on fire quite regularly, there was one the other week.

"A lot of people are saying it's deliberate."

Jim Cameron, 60, who lived on the estate for decades, said: "All the houses were full when I stayed on Montgomery Street, then I got married and moved over the street.

"Maxwell Street used to be a good street but now it's a dive."

Despite warnings about the state of the buildings, Jim insisted: "But it's safe."

Another local resident, Julie Kane, has been reported to have moved to Port Glasgow from the Isle of Skye, after discovering she could not afford Glasgow rents.

Julie Kane, said: "Glasgow city centre but the rents were outrageous.

"Somebody said try over here and at first when I saw the place I thought 'Oh my god, a mini Beirut'.

"At that point there was a lot of complaints from tenants about drug addicts and things but the flat was brilliant for the price so I thought I'd give it six months and I've been here ever since.

"I was like 'my goodness, I can actually stay here and work', and have gone down to part-time because of my cheap rent," she added.

Now she says it is better as even drug users and sex workers have moved away. "There was open prostitution and drugs going on, but that's all gone.

"I've no fear of walking around - it's peaceful," she said.

"My tenement is full so we've got a lovely community there.

"Most of us are working in my block and I'd like to see more people come in like that who want affordable housing and want to work."

Read more: Disused and dilapidated, the churches that proclaimed eternal life face an uncertain future

The Council has questioned whether some of those quoted still live in the regeneration area, and says there are no "full" tenement blocks remaining, with most residents scattered.

An its leadership insists the buildings must ultimately be demolished.

Councillor Michael McCormick, Convener of Inverclyde Council's Environment and Regeneration Committee, said: "In the council's opinion all of the flats on the estate are Below the Tolerable Standard (BTS) - they don't meet the basic requirements to be classed as fit for people to live in. And the results of several, recent, independent surveys have done nothing to change this view.

"The poor physical and social conditions in the area, combined with the level of input required from Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue and Inverclyde Council, clearly shows that the private housing market has failed and that large-scale, planned intervention is urgently needed."

Six buildings now have active demolition orders against them and the council continues to negotiate with two landlords who still have a significant number of local properties between them.

Cllr McCormick added: "The council is working towards demolishing all the buildings and clearing the site to allow this neglected part of Port Glasgow to be regenerated.

"A decade ago it was estimated that it would cost £36.5million to refurbish these buildings.

"They have deteriorated even more since then. We are making steady progress in terms of acquiring these undesirable properties. But the remaining owners need to recognise that the only future for these homes is demolition and, frankly, the sooner the better."

Read more: 'Filthy' Glasgow is in political and economic decline, says trade union leader

Leader of Inverclyde Council, Stephen McCabe, said: "It is a decimated, isolated community. It is a blight on the landscape.

"It is one of first things you see coming into Port Glasgow on the train. It would remind you of somewhere like Chernobyl."