A Stop the Rot campaign against what it calls “inner city grot spots” has won praise for the campaigning Liverpool Echo.

The newspaper has been fighting to save many city buildings that have been left to decay for more than a decade.

Now its efforts have won praise from local council leader Mike Storey.

He said the pressure exerted by the Echo’s campaign has gone down very well with the Government.

He was speaking after tough new Government guidelines were announced to give councils wider powers to seize the properties of those who fail to play a part in regenerating inner city areas.

The Government’s urban white paper aims to improve the quality of life in major cities and end the exodus from urban areas to the countryside.

Councillor Storey said: “The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions is taking the issue very seriously and I am hoping it will give local authorities additional powers so we can bring about change.

“Previously our hands have been tied and developers quite often simply stuck two fingers up to councils when we threatened to take action.”

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