More new houses approved for Daventry's western extension

Another 68 homes will be built in the second phase at Malabar Farm, west of Daventry

Plans have been approved for nearly 70 new houses on farmland on the edge of a Northamptonshire town.

They will be part of the second phase of a "sustainable urban extension" to the west of Daventry.

Some houses in the first phase of the Malabar estate have already been occupied and the completed development will have more than 1,000 homes.

The project is causing some disruption this week with the main route to the town centre temporarily closed off.

Planning permission has been granted by West Northamptonshire Council.

Sustainable Urban Extensions (SUE) are designed to create enough houses that are socially diverse and environmentally friendly, while also being nice places to live.

Upton, on the edge of Northampton, was one of the first.

The estate will have more than a thousand houses eventually.

The scheme in Daventry is located at Malabar Farm. It will ultimately have 20 hectares of public open space, a new primary school, a community centre and shops.

There will be 27 homes described as affordable in the area.

The main route from Daventry to Staverton has been temporarily closed

The construction site is on the main road between Staverton and Daventry. A temporary road closure is in place which prevents direct access between the two.

Motorists have to use a narrow country lane from the A361 at Badby to get to the village and some locals say vehicles are being driven dangerously down that road.

Commenting on social media, one local business owner said: "I witnessed large HGVs travelling at excess speed for the size of the road with oncoming traffic trying to pass.

"I really can see it being an accident waiting to happen."