Belle Vale councillor Jill Nicholls donned her hard hat to oversee the progress of a project to carry out £400,000 of refurbishment work to council houses.

Jill joined forces with Stuart Hyde, Operations Manager for Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council and Neale Love, Deputy Repairs Manager for Dudley MBC, to carry out a site visit of around 80 properties at Islington Road and Hales Road in Halesowen.

The properties are being refurbished with roof repairs including new tiles, loft insulation, structural repairs and the installation of new uPVC windows as part of a Decent Homes programme on behalf of Dudley MBC and Coleshill-based firm Frank Haslam Milan (FHM) West Midlands.

Jill chatted to residents as part of her site visit. Works, which began in March, are due to finish in mid June.

The investment programme has been welcomed by residents as the properties haven’t had any work carried out on them since the 1960s.

FHM site manager Paul Norbury said: “We’ve built up an excellent rapport with residents since working on this scheme and many even demonstrate their appreciation by taking lunch to our operatives on a regular basis.

“Our staff have received cakes from tenants and all sorts, it’s been a delight working on this site.”