A £26 million programme of council housing improvements is well underway across North Ayrshire with hundreds of tenants benefiting from modern upgrades to their homes.

This year alone, North Ayrshire Council is spending more than £2.1m on 820 kitchens, more than £1.7m on 660 bathrooms and almost £600,000 on more than 180 window installations.

The kitchen, bathroom and window upgrades form part of the council’s wide-ranging Capital Investment Programme which will deliver benefits across the area.

The £26m housing programme also includes re-roofing; re-rendering; new central heating and electrical rewiring, as well as regeneration and refurbishment schemes and also the completion of 52 new houses at Montgomery Court in Kilbirnie, Fencedyke in Irvine, and Glencairn in Stevenston.

Councillor Tony Gurney, cabinet member for place, said: “In the last five years alone, we have installed almost 4,500 kitchens, more than 3,700 bathrooms and approximately 3,400 new windows in properties right across North Ayrshire.

“As a council, we are constantly striving to better ourselves and the services we provide to our residents.

“This ongoing programme of improvements demonstrates our continuing commitment to make North Ayrshire the best place in Scotland to live.”

Irvine resident Jessie Fulton, from Fintry Terrace, Bourtreehill, Irvine, was one of the first tenants in North Ayrshire to receive a kitchen upgrade and she was over the moon with the results.

Jessie said: “I am absolutely delighted with my new kitchen and can’t thank all the workmen enough - they did a brilliant job.

“Not only was the quality of the work and attention to detail of the highest standard but they were also extremely friendly, polite and always on time. I couldn’t be happier.”