AN UNEMPLOYED man's house was taken over by a Government minister, TV crews and reporters.

Energy Minister Brian Wilson called in to Derek Smithies' Redcar home last Friday to find out about a scheme to end fuel poverty in East Cleveland.

Earlier, the minister toured the largest vessel ever seen on the River Tyne, the Bonga storage and offloading vessel, which is being fitted with equipment at Wallsend.

Mr Wilson was on Tyneside to open a trade event in which British companies had the chance to bid for contracts worth £1.243bn. The Anglo-Norwegian trade fair was held at the Offshore Energy Centre, in Wallsend.

He headed to Redcar to find out about Redcar and Cleveland Warm Zone scheme. The project is funded by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, Coast and Country Housing, which looks after many of the borough's former council homes, Transco and British Gas.

Warm Zone is the first energy saving project not included in the Government's pilot scheme. So far, 2,500 homes in East Cleveland have benefited from the scheme.

Derek Smithies, of Kent Close, told the minister his family had noticed the difference since loft and wall cavity insulation work was carried out on his house.

Mr Wilson said the Government was examining the possibility of setting up a uniform programme similar to the Warm Zone project across the country.