Plans for 20 new homes in a Suffolk village have been delayed by the pandemic - and the need to find a new route for lorries to reach the site.

Developers have permission to build 20 homes - six of them affordable properties - on land behind the Three Horseshoes Inn off The Street at Charsfield.

Planning officers have been told that the owners of a piece of land which needs to be crossed to reach the building site from The Street have removed their consent for it to be used as a temporary access.

East Suffolk Council has now agreed a new route for construction traffic to access the site via St Peter's Close instead of via The Street due to highway safety concerns.

In a submission to the council, Park Properties New Homes Ltd said it was now difficult to predict how long it will take to complete the development - depending on delays resulting from the pandemic, such as further lockdowns, the availability of materials and the buoyancy of the housing market.

The report said: "The best estimate for the construction period is, therefore, two to three years.

"It was originally intended to develop this site as a single phase. However, the approved development will now be carried out in four distinct phases of five dwellings rather than a continuous development of 20 dwellings.

"This will significantly reduce the number of traffic movements and the number of contractors on site at any one time."