BABERGH and Mid Suffolk District Councils' Building Control team has been recognised with five top awards at a prestigious ceremony.

The Local Authority Building Control (LABC) Building Excellence Awards take place annually and celebrate the best in building design, construction and innovation.

They highlight the work of public sector building control teams.

In the East of England's 2024 awards, Babergh and Mid Suffolk had winners in five categories, including the Newcomer of the Year award, which was given to Trainee Building Control Inspector, Brieze Bradford.

The full list of awards was:

• Best Residential Conversion to a Single New Home - The Byre, Wetheringsett (Beech Architects and NSH Developments)
• Best Individual New Home - Orchard Farm, Leavenheath (Daking Designs)
• Best Residential & Small Commercial Builder - Craig Page-Baker, Page-Baker Construction
• Best Partnership with a Local Authority Building Control Team - Binder Ltd 
• LABC Newcomer of the Year - Brieze Bradford

The councils were also highly commended for:

• Best Residential Extension - Farmhouse, Mid Suffolk (Mole Architects and Thornton Construction)
• Best Individual New Home - Woodfield, Sproughton (Wincer Kievenaar and The Birch Group)

The winning projects will now go onto the national LABC award finals in January where they will go head-to-head with other regional winners to compete for the overall titles.

Cllr Sallie Davies, cabinet member for Heritage, Planning & Infrastructure, at Babergh District Council, said: "This is a great achievement not only for our team but for the contractors and developers that we have worked closely with on these projects.

"As a council, we take a lot of pride in the developments that we deliver in the district and this goes a long way to show that dedication.

"Congratulations to our team and an extra special to mention to our very own trainee who was awarded the Best Newcomer title for our area. Best of luck at the national awards."