I'm 72 with terminal cancer and have been forced out of my home with my two dogs

Barry Lanza, who lives at 17 Bond Street with his two seven-year-old Chihuahuas was forced to evacuate his property last week as work to demolish an unsafe building got underway.

Bulldozers descended on the former Hartes building on the corner of Bond Street and Waterloo Road in South Shore after Blackpool Council instructed the owners of the property to carry out a structural appraisal of its condition, which showed it needed to be demolished.

Ward Councillor Diane Mitchell had previously warned the building could collapse if nothing was done about it.

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Barry said: “Last week I was told I had five minutes to pack my medication and get out.

“I'm a 72 man with a brain tumour, terminal prostate cancer and also COPD, (a common lung disease that makes it difficult to breathe). “Because of the demolition of Hartes my property adjoining it has been condemned.

“I was informed by the owner of the building that the council had been down and placed a dangerous order on it.

“The site owner has put me in an appalling guest house which was cramped with my two Chihuahuas who are very unsettled.

“Everything I own is in that house. I've just been left and I don't know what to do.”

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With an Emergency Prohibition Order currently attached to his home, Barry has since decided to leave the place he was in and has booked himself into the Travelodge which he is paying for himself but fears he will be homeless very soon if something is not sorted.

He added: “My landlord has just come back from Spain so I am hoping he can sort it.

“I just want my home back.”

However, Hartes store owner Howard Plant told the Gazette this is not the case and he even paid for Mr Lanza to be put up in accommodation.

He said: “I have a letter dating back to 2020 that it is in fact his house that is structurally unsafe.

“I even sent him a text message saying that he needed to move out as I was concerned about his welfare due to the condition of his building and that I would put him up in alternative accommodation.”

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A spokesperson for Blackpool Council said that they had been liaising with the tenant and offered advice and support with accommodation but were awaiting the outcome of a Building Control report to determine the next steps for the property.

The building opened in 1928 as Blackpool's second Woolworth's store before closing in 1994, with Harte's then occupying it for 25 years including with their famous Christmas shop.

Developers are now hoping to build a block of 23 holiday apartments on the site with retail on the ground floor and parking for up to 30 cars. That application, submitted by Groves Town Planning, is currently awaiting a decision by council planners.