The first home of former Beatle Ringo Starr is likely to be bulldozed after years of wrangling over its future, officials said yesterday.
Number 9 Madryn Street, in Dingle, Liverpool, has little historic value and no interest for tourists to the city, the owners said.
Demolition of the house, where the drummer was born and lived until he was three months old, is due to take place under a housing regeneration scheme.
A nearby home, 10 Admiral Grove, where Starr lived for the subsequent 20 years of his life, is to remain standing.
Residents of the area, known locally as the Welsh Streets, have long campaigned to stop the demolition scheme.
They say the two- and three-bedroomed terraces are ideal starter homes for young people seeking to get on to the property ladder.
There is also a fear that the close-knit community will be split up once the bulldozers move in. And they pinned their hopes on Madryn Street’s connection with the 70-year-old former Beatle.
But the house’s owners Merseytravel, the region’s passenger transport authority, said not enough fans of the Fab Four want to visit.
Chief executive officer Neil Scales said: “There is little historic value in the house, which does not now figure in our tourism plans.”
Resident Nina Edge said: “Ringo’s house is more than a visitor attraction, it’s a great little house plenty of people would be glad to live in.”
The childhood homes of John Lennon – Mendips, at 251 Menlove Avenue, and Sir Paul McCartney – 20 Forthlin Road, are popular tourist attractions run by the National Trust. George Harrison’s Arnold Grove home is a private house and the Cavern Club was demolished in the 1970s.
Fellow Welsh Streets resident and Beatles fanatic Piers Elton branded regeneration chiefs “short-sighted” for their decision.
He added: “It would be perfectly possible to keep this house and demolish the properties around it. This house is a reminder of the world which spawned the Beatles.”
A Liverpool City Council spokesman said: “Ringo Starr’s family home of 20 years is Admiral Grove, which is still standing and being lived in today. Ringo lived in Madryn Street for just a short time when he was a baby.
“This property is in very poor condition and unfit to live in. It is in the middle of a terrace and would cost £150,000 just to stop it falling down. The house has little true historic value.
“Most houses in this area are lying empty due to problems with damp and collapsing foundations.
“We plan to replace them with new, modern homes with gardens to breathe new life into the area, which is what local people want.
“The city is proud of its Beatles heritage, and properties of cultural significance formerly lived in by both Sir Paul McCartney and John Lennon have been preserved by the National Trust.”