Victoria Street resident Harvey Hunt nominated Victoria Court and the nearby former Pyramid Products factory for Chad's Sort It Out campaign, where residents can point the finger at eyesores and other problems on their doorsteps.

Mr Hunt says he nominated the Victoria Court flats complex because developers at Finsbury Estates Ltd have done little at the site since it was purchased for £1m at auction in 2004.

He said: "Nothing has changed since they took over. When my brother comes to visit, he says it's worse than Beirut down here.

"It's called a duty of care. Everyone who owns a piece of property has a duty to clear it up if it gets into a state."

The 48 flats remain unoccupied and a Mansfield District Council spokesman said just 'a few' have been renovated since they were purchased.

"Although we understand that a number of the units have been refurbished, to date overall progress has been slow," the spokesman said.

"However, the council has held some discussions with the owner of the site with a view to facilitating a wider regeneration project in the area."

Mr Hunt also blames council chiefs for the nearby 'eyesore' at the fire-hit Pyramid Products site and late last year reported them to the Local Government Ombudsman.

He said. "The council should be forcing Pyramid Products to clean up or using a compulsory purchase order and cleaning it up themselves."

But a spokesman says the council has done everything in its power to deal with the site, which was gutted in a fire in 2004, and the ombudsman had ruled in its favour after Mr Hunt's complaint.

The ombudsman found the council had acted correctly because the problem was not bad enough to force Pyramid Products into a clean-up.

But Barry Wright, of the West Titchfield Neighbour-hood Management Team, said the area had been 'abandoned' by the authorities and they were struggling to get any improvements made.

"It would be a different story if this mess was in the Market Place where the councillors could see it," he said.

Pyramid Products site owner Bruce Hunter said negotiations with builders about the site were ongoing and had been delayed by problems with the re-routing of a power line.

In 2007 an outline planning application to build 58 homes, including 12 apartments, and up to 12,000 sq ft of employment space was approved by councillors, but a deal for another firm to purchase the site fell through.