Hundreds of homes of low-income families across the Great Yarmouth area are set to be insulated, following a successful bid by the borough council for more than £1.5m.

The £1,654,670.49 was awarded to the council by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, through its Sustainable Warmth Competition.

A separate bid for a further £2,576,621.39, to upgrade the least efficient homes which are off the gas grid and occupied by low-income households, was unsuccessful.

The funding will be used to target 153 homes in Nelson, Central & Northgate, Southtown & Cobholm, Claydon and St Andrews wards.

The wards were selected using EPC and deprivation data, with as many as 30pc of residents living in fuel poverty in some of them.

The measures will be focused around insulation, with solar panels also provided to some homes to reduce energy costs.

In addition, some homes will have central heating upgrades through the installation of air source heat pumps.

At a Tuesday meeting of the council’s policy and resources committee, members voted unanimously in favour of accepting the grant.