DEMOLITION teams have moved into a Huddersfield estate to pave the way for a £7.5m regeneration project.

New life will be brought to Primrose Hill as 64 two-storey bedsits in the Ridge Street and Ridge Close area are demolished to make way for 79 energy efficient homes.

The initiative will see the bedsits replaced by 31 family houses and 48 two bedroom flats by early 2006.

The new properties will be fitted with solar panels to help cut electricity bills and the panels will also be fitted to existing properties.

Clr Andrew Cooper, Kirklees Council cabinet member responsible for housing, said: "The creation of the Primrose Hill Solar Village will probably be one of the highest concentrations of domestic solar technology anywhere in the UK."

Jimm Reed, project manager, added: "This project has been about partnership between the community, the council and the housing association.

"The homes being demolished were in poor condition and it would not have been cost effective to bring them up to the modern standards that the new homes provide.

"The regeneration of the area means that we will continue to work together long after the building work has been completed to ensure that this whole community becomes and stays a sustainable and desirable place to live for many years to come."