A MAN who has been using driftwood to heat his home is the first person in east Cleveland to receive a Euro-funded heating system.

Heart patient Trevor Sainsbury, 59, of Skinningrove, has received a gas-fired central heating after assessors decided that his home was so cold that it could affect his health.

The system was fitted by Redcar and Cleveland Warm Zone, following a £630,000 Euro grant.

Mr Sainsbury said: "The first time I turned the heating on it almost knocked me out.

"The house is lovely and warm. I used to collect driftwood from the beach but I can't get down there as well as I used to and the house was really cold."

Beccy Brown, director of Warm Zone, said: "It's fantastic that we have been able to install central heating.

"We have also improved his home with loft and cavity wall insulation."

More than 17,000 homes in the Redcar and Cleveland area are thought to suffer from fuel poverty, where households need to spend more than a tenth of their income trying to keep warm.

It is hoped cash from the European Regional Development Fund will help lift hundreds more homes in the borough out of fuel poverty.

A further £170,000 of funding from the European Social Fund was set aside to train unemployed people as Warm Zone workers.