IT’S a milestone day for Colchester.

Exactly 100 years ago today, the town’s first council houses - 18 family homes - were officially opened in Defoe Crescent, at Mile End.

The Mayoress of Colchester, Mrs AJ Lucking, performed the opening ceremony and the semi-detached, three-bedroom houses were for returning military personnel from the First World War.

They were described as “homes fit for heroes”.

In the following 70 years, thousands more were built and, at its peak in the early 1980s, there were about 10,000 council houses across Colchester.

Former MP Sir Bob Russell has marked the occasion with a special feature on page ten.

He also took a trip around the borough to take photos and see what the main plots of council housing look like today.