Kim BriscoeA village's church rooms are believed to be the first community building in Broadland to get a hi-tech heating system.The energy-saving system at Horsford Church Rooms uses a heat pump to recover warmth from the air outside and a movement sensing control system which turns the heating off when the room is empty.Kim Briscoe

A village's church rooms are believed to be the first community building in Broadland to get a hi-tech heating system.

The energy-saving system at Horsford Church Rooms uses a heat pump to recover warmth from the air outside and a movement sensing control system which turns the heating off when the room is empty.

The old system had four

wall-mounted electric fan heaters on a cash meter.

Jean Sallows, treasurer of the church rooms, said: 'We think we're the first community building in Broadland which uses a heat pump for air heating. We're very proud of that. I didn't understand how it would work at first but now I'm absolutely delighted.'

The new system is expected to save 65pc to 70pc of the electricity used and reduce carbon produced by 1,750kg a year.

A grant of �7,000 from Broadland District Council made the installation and associated insulation possible.

The project is part of a �125,000 grant initiative by the council to fit renewable energy systems in seven community buildings across Broadland and support and develop local installers.