Don’t miss a thing! Sign up to the Daily Star’s newsletter
We have more newsletters
An "apocalyptic" UK town "like North Korea" has been left largely derelict with streets full of boarded-up houses.
Horden in County Durham, which sits on England's northeast coast, was once a thriving mining town with a flourishing community.
But after the colliery was shut down in 1987, the town fell into disarray as workers and their families were forced to leave in search of work.
READ MORE: Inside the UK seaside town where boarded up homes sell for as little as 20k
YouTuber David Burnip, who posts videos of some of the UK's cheapest homes for his channel Wandering Turnip, set out to investigate and found rows of abandoned homes with boarded-up doors and windows.
"Four thousand people were working at the coal mine, living here, spending their money, and bringing up families," he said in a clip titled '£20,000 Houses In A Boarded Up Seaside Town!'.
Now, however, it's a different story.
"It's so apocalyptic-looking," he added. "[It's] almost eerie.
"I can't imagine anyone ever wanting to live in one of these, no matter how nice it was renovated, being surrounded by all of those derelict properties would be really depressing and downright creepy at night."
-
2,500-year-old toilet still full with ancient parasite-ridden turd from posh family
Burnip also noted the council had made a "genius" attempt to make the town more inviting by painting fake doors and windows onto some of the plywood covering the houses, and said it was sometimes hard to tell which doors were real and which were fake.
"Whoever made them fake doors are genius. I absolutely love them. They look so good, and they do make the houses look so much better," he said.
"It's a good way to make you think it's not boarded up, but it is."
During his visit, Burnip got chatting with a few friendly locals, including one who had lived in Horden for decades and worked in the mine for nearly 40 years before it was shut down.
He said: "It’s just gone down the banks since the collieries finished.
"It was better then, because everyone took pride in what they had. Now they don’t bother."
Recalling what the town was like before the mine shut down, he said: "You had all the working men’s clubs, and all the public houses… practically none left now."
Horden's abandoned houses also mean property there is cheap.
A house on one of the town's "numbered" streets will set you back as little as £20,000, with the more recently renovated properties fetching a price tag of around £50,000 to £80,000.
However, one estate agent featured in the video warned the properties would need to be renovated as local kids had broken into and vandalised many of them.
The town's empty streets and abandoned shops have drawn comparisons with the North Korean town of Kijong-dong, an alleged farming town that neighbouring South Korea claims is an uninhabited village built in a 1950s propaganda effort.
Modern telescopes have allowed for a glimpse into the strange settlement and have revealed many of the buildings are made up of just a concrete exterior, with no real doors, windows, or rooms inside.
Research into the bizarre town found lights in the makeshift "houses" were put on automatic timers and street cleaners were employed to protect the illusion of Kijong-dong's thriving community.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.
READ NEXT:
Bloke drains huge reservoir to find lost phone after dropping it taking selfie
UK towns with worst weather revealed – full list of Britain's dullest locations
Stag dos 'pleading' to go to Wrexham as Ryan Reynolds makes it most wanted destination
UK seaside town dubbed 'best in the world' is 'just like going back in time'
- Property
- YouTube
- North Korea Dprk
Source: Read Full Article