Residents in Rackheath yesterday celebrated the opening of a new environmentally friendly housing development.

A total of 12 affordable, zero carbon homes in Trinity Close, Rackheath, all have solar panels, grey water recycling where bath water is recycled, air circulators and underfloor heating.

Marie and Steve Fitch, who live with their four children Bethany, 12, Jack, 10, Ben, seven and three-year-old William moved into their new home on October 6.

Mr Fitch, 37, a restaurant manager said: 'We have only had the heating on once since we have lived here. There was a frost this morning but we didn't know anything about it.'

The �1.7 million development was funded by the Homes and Communities agency, Broadland District Council and Wherry Housing Association.

Wherry Housing managing director, Mark Jones, said: 'It's part of a wider strategy of working with the residents to let them know how to use the heating system and how to live in these dwellings. The solar panels will produce around 5,000 kW of energy a year which is what an average house consumes every year.'

Broadland portfolio holder for communities and housing, Councillor Jo Cottingham said the development was the forerunner to council plans for 200 more new homes in Rackheath – 40pc of which would be affordable and built to the highest environmental standards.