It may have taken years to find a solution –but the problem was resolved in the end. Residents came together with community leaders to celebrate the completion of Millfields Close, a street that was only part completed when the developer went bankrupt.

It happened after many of the homeowners had already bought and moved into the properties – but the finishing touches were not complete and the authorities were unable to adopt the estate.

Graham Unger, treasurer of the Millfields Residents Committee, which was formed to resolve the issue, said: 'There were various problems: the street lights were not ready to be switched on, fence railings on some of the homes had not been fitted and the roads had not been surfaced to the standards by county council highways. There were also issues with the drainage.'

He explained that when the issue emerged, the estate of around 80 properties was at 90pc capacity.

But after years of hard work by residents – many of whom had lost track of how many years this had taken to resolve – Millfields Close has now been adopted by all the relevant authorities such as the county council, West Norfolk Council and Anglian Water.

Some felt the issue had taken four years, others thought they had been campaigning for up to eight years.

North West Norfolk MP Sir Henry Bellingham said: 'I must pay tribute to this community, because this is an example of a community that has come together to resolve an extremely challenging issue they had found themselves in.

'The residents' committee worked extremely hard, raised the relevant funds, and did what they had to get to where they are today.'

He added: 'I know there is a happy and relieved community here who can now carry on their lives with peace of mind that this is out of their hands.

'For that, I must commend the efforts of all the public servants also involved, particularly those at Norfolk County Council. Their attitude was very much 'lets get this problem solved' and they were very helpful throughout.'

Now the street has been formally adopted, Ron Mortimer, chairman of the residents' committee is now campaigning for a change in the law on sales of new builds.

He said: 'This has been an incredibly challenging issue to resolve – and I do not want anyone else to go through what we, as residents, have been through.

'I have joined Sir Henry for meetings in London with the relevant government representatives about this. Perhaps there needs to be a system where funds are put to one side during the purchase of newbuilds, like an insurance, which can be tapped into if something like this happens.

'At the moment, some solicitors allow for it whereas others don't – in my view that simply isn't enough.'

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