The first phase of a large affordable housing development between Diss and Roydon has been completed.

Barnes Construction marked the occasion at the Long Meadow development by inviting local builders, quantity surveyors and architects on a guided tour.

The first part of the building work has seen the completion of 29 of the 114 homes at the greenfield site off Denmark Lane.

Fourteen of those affordable homes are available for purchase for local people and 15 have been secured by Flagship Housing Group for rent.

The scheme by developer C-Zero is part funded by a �3m grant from the Department of Energy and Climate Change's Low Carbon Investment Fund – an initiative aimed at stimulating the building of low-carbon, affordable homes.

The project was also awarded an affordable housing grant worth �780,000 from the East of England Homes and Communities Agency.

Mark Hart, Barnes Construction director, said: 'There is a lot of excitement locally about this development because it is the first commercial, sustainable housing project of its scale in the UK. There was a great deal of interest in our first site visit, which took place mid-construction, so we were keen to show our contemporaries the finished product.'