A church that has been tainted by a reputation as a hotspot of anti-social behaviour in Blackburn could be transformed into a residential care home.

Rather than serving as a meeting place for some of the areas least desirable people, St Andrews Church on Livesy Branch Road in Blackburn could become a boost to social care services and supported housing jobs in the area. The Lancashire Telegraph reports that the current owner has submitted plans to turn the long defunct place of worship into a care home for 35 elderly people.

Krishnam Satkunam, a London-based property developer is reportedly already creating opportunities for domiciliary care jobs in the area. Just across the road from St Andrews, an additional 30-place care home is currently under construction.

According to The Lancashire Telegraph's Nafeesa Shan, the application for the new care home would create around 10 full time housing support jobs in addition to those at the existing development. In their application, architects James Campbell Associates Ltd said that the once-popular church has degraded considerably since it was closed three years ago, with vegetation overgrowing the area and that "empty alcohol cans, bottles and litter" and graffiti can be found around the rear of the building.

They say that the development was an "opportunity to reinvigorate the site and bring the existing building back into use without major disruption."

If approved, the church would transform a place that is "in danger of becoming very run down and has begun to attract anti-social behaviour" into a modern care home. There would be 35 en suite rooms in the new care home, with a common area, kitchen, office and laundry room. However, the original outer design of the building would remain largely the same, with only superficial changes proposed in the application.