A decrepit housing estate dubbed 'Scotland's Chernobyl' will see bulldozers move in next year, it is hoped.
The Clune Park estate, in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, was once a thriving community of shipyard workers in the 1920s.
But it is now home to only around 20 people living in a handful of the 430 flats.
Property on the estate was once the cheapest in Britain, with one flat selling for just £7,000 at auction - but it has been plagued by arsonists and vandals with shops, a primary school and church are all boarded up and abandoned.
Plans to bulldoze the tenement blocks has resulted in a long and bitter battle between Inverclyde Council and private landlords refusing to sell up.
The leader of Inverclyde Council, Stephen McCabe, previously said 'it would remind you of somewhere like Chernobyl".
But after years of stalemate, hopes are high that next year bulldozers could move in to demolish the eyesore.
Mr McCabe said: "We are progressing our strategy of acquiring all the properties to demolish them and we are progressing closing orders.
"It has been a long haul to get here.
"We are continuing to engage with people who have properties in the area and we are trying to reach agreements with them in terms of acquiring the properties.
"Officers are hopeful that some time next year, we may well have sufficient properties that we can start to demolish in terms of at least one of the blocks.
"Things are moving forward.
"I can see the end game."
The flats have become a magnet for arsonists and vandals, and some are in such poor condition that they pose a health risk.
Mr McCabe said: "We will continue to work and engage with the Scottish Government and call for them to support us with our strategy in terms of acquiring properties and potentially provide some funding for new a new build development on the site.
"I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
"If we get to say spring or summer next year and we have actively started the demolition, that's a clear sign that the end game is in sight, albeit it will still take a protracted period of time until we acquire them all."
