LOCAL government secretary Eric Pickles has stepped into the row over the proposed demolition of the Welsh Streets warning Liverpool council not to ignore opposition to knocking the houses down.

The Dingle homes, which include Ringo Starr’s former house in Madryn Street, are earmarked for destruction under the controversial Pathfinder scheme.

Mr Pickles said he recognised the case put forward by anti-demolition campaigners for renovation rather than repair.

But council leader Cllr Joe Anderson dismissed the idea as the “economics of the madhouse” in this case, stating that across the board many more homes would be renovated than demolished.

Pressure groups like Save Britain’s Heritage – which last week wrote to the Government to apply for Starr’s former home to be listed to scupper the wrecking ball – and local Welsh Streets campaigners will hope to make the most of Mr Pickles comments when the demolition plans go before the council’s planning committee.

It is understood the plan will go before the committee after a high volume of letters both in opposition to, and support of, the demolitions.

But the committee’s remit will be to assess the specific details of the demolition process, rather than the wisdom of the policy. Mr Pickles said: “We recognise the public concern about the last Government’s Pathfinder scheme having too great an emphasis on demolitions encouraged by targets set by Whitehall.