NEW affordable homes have been built on the derelict site of a former Worcester youth centre.

A total of 34 one, two, three and four-bed properties, including apartments, family homes and bungalows for the elderly now sit off Chedworth Drive, in Warndon.

The £4.6 million development, a flagship scheme by Worcester Community Housing, also features an Olympic-themed garden. Twenty-six of the homes are for rent and eight are being made available under shared ownership. The old youth centre, was closed down last year and was replaced by a new £1.2 million facility for the people of Warndon.

The funding for it has come from the Homes and Communities Agency, a government department. There is also an allotment on the site where trees have been planted by pupils from Warndon Primary School and Worcester MP Robin Walker .

He said: “Worcester needs affordable homes and we are all keen to see them built on brownfield sites rather than over the beautiful green fields that surround our city.

“This development is a great example of what can be achieved. I am particularly pleased to see it contains both affordable rented properties and shared ownership ones that will help people get onto the housing ladder.”

Councillor Alan Amos, who represents Warndon, said: “It really is a superb development – there’s a good mixture of properties.

“I’ve seen the allotments and they have been done to a very high specification, it’s a development we can be very proud of. It’s one of the best housing schemes I’ve seen for a while and the people who get to live there will be very fortunate.”

It was built by developers Lovells, which worked in conjunction with Worcester Bosch in making the properties as environmentally friendly as possible.