WINSFORD-born Ian Dickinson was determined that nothing would be left to chance with Lyndale, his prestigious new housing development in Wharton.

So when the first mews houses at the Wharton Road estate were completed, he decide to 'test drive' one himself.

"I wanted to make sure everything was absolutely right," said Mr Dickinson. "So my wife and I packed a suitcase and moved into one of the houses for two weeks."

Mr and Mrs Dickinson 'fine tuned' the three-bedroomed house before it was sold to Lyndale's first resident.

"One of the little things we discovered was that the taps were on the wrong end of the bath, so by moving the taps to the end of the bath by the wall we enabled the future owner to add a shower fitting if required," Mr Dickinson said.

Mr Dickinson believes that Lyndale will set new standards for housing developments. "We want to get the details right for our purchasers," he added. "We are building homes, not houses."

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