THE Government has rejected any rethink in £120m home funding cuts which have created “ghost towns” across Liverpool.

City MPs warned the axing last year of the Housing Market Renewal Imitative (HMRI) has meant that demolished areas cannot now be rebuilt and residents are left in crumbling properties in urban wastelands.

But junior communities minister Andrew Stunnell rebuffed all questions on future funding and dismissed the points made by Liverpool MPs as “sob stories”.

He added: “The reality of the deficit is that we have to take tough decisions on savings and focus on growth.”

Mr Stunnell also failed to clear up confusion over whether Liverpool city council can access the Regional Grant Fund currently being orchestrated by Lord Heseltine. So far only Hull and Wakefield have been able to do so, and a Liverpool bid has been turned down.

The HMRI fund would have seen £120m going to Liverpool over the next seven years.

Instead the city will have to compete with four other regions for a share of a £30m pot, described by local MPs as “a drop in the ocean”. MP fury was increased when housing minister Grant Shapps failed to turn up for a Westminster debate, leaving Mr Stunnell to carry the can.

Wavertree’s Luciana Berger, who led the debate, said: “It is truly pathetic. We got no answers, no clarity.”