A street just outside of Merseyside has been left empty.
Metal fences and loose bricks shake as lorries pass along the motorway just yards away. Cracked windows fill the terraced houses of Elm Street in Ellesmere Port.
Thousands of people see the two rows of decaying terraces every day as they drive along the M53. The other end of the deserted street is home to toys, furniture, anonymous rubbish and other debris that has been left strewn across the old timber yard.
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One of the old terraced houses on the street has just a charred beam left where the roof was once. On either side of the house, rooves have completely caved in, raining debris on the back rooms after a fire in July 2021.
Fungus lines the walls behind the broken windows. Modern light fixtures suggest that the house may have been lived in since the turn of the century.
A mattress lies in the road and tyres have been tipped under a chimney breast where weeds now grow high. Halfway up the street, one board has been ripped from a door and a panel kicked in. Inside a tyre sits on top of discarded junk mail and leaflets.
On the industrial estate nearby, it's believed the houses were all occupied by businesses almost three decades ago. Peeling security signs cling to the houses, covered in soot from passing cars and faded by rain.
One sign looks newer than the rest, with a row of houses that all appear to have newer-looking rooves. The house was once occupied by a music tuition business, with local businesses saying it was successful before leaving three years ago.
Another describes the street as "fly-tipping central", with instances happening "at least twice a week". He blames the state of the houses and describes them as "disgusting".
He also claims that the houses were "livable six to eight months ago." The dereliction has attracted other visitors to Elm Street, including TV crews, who used the street as a double for an abandoned, gritty area of London in ITV’s The Tower .
Elsewhere, other business owners explain that the houses have been condemned numerous times over the decades, but never pulled down. They cannot say what the future is for these houses.
A spokesperson for Cheshire West and Chester Council told Cheshire Live : "The Council will continue to listen to offers for the site. The condition and suitability of the buildings will be considered as part of any forthcoming development."
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