Ted Neville is celebrating a milestone after being declared Grantham's longest-serving council tenant.

Ted, 92, has lived in his current house for 61 years.

And it's one he knows very well - because he helped to build it!

Ted says: "I was a bricklayer for 51 years and remember building this house and lots of others on the estate back in 1947. We used this house as a store while working on the others, so it was the last to be occupied. Apprentices helped build houses in the next cul-de-sac.

He remembers the shortage of bricks at the time. "Bricks weren't rationed, but they were difficult to get hold of, so our bricks came from London, Loughborough and Newark. Each companies' bricks were different, so we had to hold onto enough that matched to be able to build each pair of houses," he added.

Ted shared many happy years in the house with his late wife, Joyce, raising their son, Stephen. Alongside family photos on the mantelpiece stands a letter from The Queen congratulating Ted and Joyce on their platinum wedding anniversary - 70 years!

Ted previously lived next door to the Thatcher family's shop on North Parade in Grantham and remembers Margaret when she was in her teens attending Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School, although he rarely saw Margaret as she was always studying.

Ted was speaking in the week that marks the centenary of the nation's biggest council house building boom and as South Kesteven District Council has confirmed plans to build hundreds of new homes.

South Kesteven once owned more than 9,500 council homes across the district and still owns nearly 6,000 houses, including 2,399 in Grantham.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Matthew Lee, said: "We have exciting plans to work in partnership with the private sector to stimulate the building of more homes and ensuring that our district continues to offer homes that are both aspirational and accessible."