A SEVEN-year plan to improve council houses has been drawn up by Richmondshire District Council to meet Government standards by 2010.

In the present financial year, the authority will spend more than £1.7m on its housing stock.

Work due for completion before next April includes reroofing, replacing coal-fired heating systems with gas, installing boilers, rewiring and replacing kitchens and bathrooms.

Twenty units at the sheltered housing complex in Quaker Lane, Reeth, will also be modernised.