Grandma creates 'green self build in Fife'

After retiring, one condition of Heather Dean moving up to Scotland to live with her architect son was that he build her a green ecohome, it has emerged.

Mrs Dean had previously sought to build on a fresh plot of land but found the process of securing rural land in the area difficult, the Times reports.

As a means of getting round this problem, the pensioner bought two farm cottages with land attached and charged her son with the task of building a new roof structure that features sheep's wool insulation, among other green initiatives.

It was claimed that the main door was constructed using timber from a Douglas fir that had to be cut down from the building site at the project's start.

Mrs Dean's heating is said to be supplied via a ground-source heat pump system, but her idea of straw-bale walls were "deemed impractical".

The average homeowner that installs energy-efficient measures - such as cavity wall insulation - could save around £300 per year, according to the Energy Savings Trust, while measures installed by Mrs Dean could save even more.