A new village could be created in Norfolk as council bosses and leaders try to figure out where almost 9,000 new homes should be built.

About 48,500 new homes need to be built in Greater Norwich - the area covered by Norwich City Council, Broadland and South Norfolk - over the next 20 years, according to consultants brought in by council bosses.

The consultants reached their conclusion after looking at data on population, economic growth, life expectancy and commuting, as well as the size of families and other social changes.

The locations for the bulk of those homes has already been established through various blueprints and existing planning permissions.

But that still leaves council leaders with the task of figuring out which sites should be allocated to take 8,900 homes by 2036.

At a meeting tomorrow, they will look at a string of options where the houses could be built.

An extra 1,500 are likely to be in Norwich, on top of the 7,700 already allocated, with a further 200 in Sprowston and Thorpe St Andrew.

A further 1,000 are likely to be spread among towns such as Diss, Aylsham, Wymondham, Long Stratton and villages such as Hethersett, Poringland, Blofield and Brundall.

A further 1,200 could be allocated for smaller villages, but that still leaves 5,000 homes to be allocated.

And the Greater Norwich Development Partnership, made up of councillors and officers from Norwich City Council, Broadland District Council, South Norfolk Council, Norfolk County Council and the Broads Authority, will tomorrow hear the options for the rest of the homes.

Options include concentrating all 5,000 near Norwich, along the Norwich to Cambridge tech corridor (such as in areas near the Norwich Research Park and the proposed Food Hub at Easton), along other key transport routes or spreading them out among numerous towns and villages.

There are also suggestions for a 'new settlement', of around 1,000 homes somewhere in Norfolk, although no location has been proposed at this stage.

But the report states: 'It would be expected to grow significantly after 2036, with the final scale dependent on the characteristics of the location and access to services.'