AN EMPTY building in Abersychan is a blot on the landscape and letting the rest of the village down, according to angry residents.

Despite £17m being spent on improvement works in the nearby area, the Co-op building on Abersychan High Street has been left derelict for years and has become a magnet for anti-social behaviour.

The prominent building used to be a hive of industry with a bakery, pharmacy, on-site slaughterhouse and shoe shop but in recent years it has stood empty and boarded up.

The building, owned by property company SJIP Ltd, stands in the middle of High Street - an area targeted by the Neighbourhood Renewal Area scheme that lasted 10 years and finished in October. Since 1999, over £17 million has been spent on capital schemes in Abersychan, including £4.6 million in housing grants.

Nancy Carter, 74, has lived opposite the Co-op for 55 years and applied for a Group Repair Scheme grant to have new windows and doors for her home, a new wall built and paving slabs for her garden.

She said: “We’ve had some lovely work done on our road but the Co-op is left the same and in the last five years it’s gone down. I’m looking at it 24 hours a day.”

The Trinitiy Methodist Church also stands opposite the Co-op buildings and church-goer Beryl Roberts is concerned potential visitors to Abersychan are being put off by the empty Co-op.

She said: “It’s a terrible eyesore for weddings and funerals - it’s really lowering the tone of the place.

“People that come to visit the church are shocked by the sight of it.”

Abersychan Councillor Gwyneira Clark says the building has been boarded up for 15 years.

Cllr Clark said: “This street came under the area renewal scheme for Abersychan and the houses have just been finished.

“The street looks lovely now but then you’re faced with this and it’s so desolate it brings the rest of the street down.”

Chief Executive of Melin Homes, Mark Gardner said: “I can confirm that we were interested in buying the long-time, derelict Co-op building in High Street, Abersychan. We have been in discussions with SJIP for a long time and earlier this year those discussions broke down. Our intention would have been to develop the site into much needed affordable housing including accommodation for older people.”