A Public and private housing partnership has ended a couple's nine-year wait for a new home.

Pensioners Iris and Vaughan Barnard have moved into one of ten housing association bungalows which have been designed for the over-55s, on a Bellway Homes development site at Tudhoe, near Spennymoor.

The estate's landlord, the Tees Valley Housing Group, is working with Bellway after changes in the national housing policy which seek to encourage the creation of more mixed communities across the country.

The couple were desperate for a new home because 62-year-old Mrs Barnard's diabetic condition was making it difficult for her to negotiate the stairs at the couple's flat in Spennymoor.

Doors in the new bungalows have been widened to allow wheelchair access. There are special security features and a warden-call alarm system.

Alison Thain, Tees Valley Housing Group's chief executive, said: "There is a general recognition that we cannot carry on building homes the way we have done over the past 20 years.

"What we are doing now is all about creating mixed communities that can create more sustainable neighbourhoods and ensuring that people like Iris and Vaughan can find suitable homes."