Worthing Borough Council has launched a project to roll out a heat network that will offer climate-friendly heating to all its homes and buildings by 2050.

The scheme in Worthing, West Sussex, will see up to £ 500M of investment by Hemiko.

Heat networks remove the need for individual heat pumps, boilers or hot water tanks in properties, providing heating and hot water from the piped heat through a heat exchanger which for a home is around the same size as a small gas boiler and can be individually controlled.

Up to a fifth of homes are expected to be heated through heat networks by 2050.

Construction will start in July and the first buildings are set to be connected by summer 2025, including Worthing Town Hall, Worthing Hospital, the Assembly Hall, Portland House, Worthing Museum and Art Gallery, and the Connaught Theatre.

The project's first phase is expected to save more than 3,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year.