TWO families have received the keys to their new homes after their old houses were pulled down last year.

Patsy Metcalf and Tracy Marchant, from Topcliffe, near Thirsk, saw their old homes in East Lea bulldozed last year.

Four new affordable homes were built on the site and Mrs Metcalf and Miss Marchant will move into two of them.

The innovative £480,000 scheme uses additional council tax payments on people who have a second home in Hambleton and match funding comes from the Housing Corporation and Broadacres.

The scheme is a joint operation between Hambleton District Council, North Yorkshire County Council, Broadacres Housing Association and the Housing Corporation.

It is one of five across Hambleton that will see 22 affordable homes built on underused plots of land. Other schemes are in Thirsk, Easingwold and Northallerton