A Norfolk holiday park has drawn back the shower curtain to reveal a new amenity block that saves enough water each year to fill more than six touring caravans.

A Norfolk holiday park has drawn back the shower curtain to reveal a new amenity block that saves enough water each year to fill more than six touring caravans.

The £180,000 scheme at Kelling Heath Holiday Park at Weybourne has refurbished a block using environmentally-friendly equipment including solar energy to heat the water, recycled rain to flush the toilets, and underground heat exchangers to warm or cool the building.

The park has won accolades for its environmentally-friendly tourism, including holding a David Bellamy Gold Conservation award for the past 11 years.

Yesterday the famous botanist's son Rufus, who is conservation and environmental adviser for the British

Holiday and Home Parks Association, officially opened the new block, which services about 100 touring pitches.

Park manager Mark Durrant said “With green tourism and environmental awareness at the top of everyone's agenda, we thought it was time to see what we might also do to manage our resources in a more effective and environmentally sustainable way.

“This is the first time we have incorporated this type of sustainable technology, and we will be monitoring its success to see if it is something we could be applying in other areas - such as the health club, or the main lounge areas.”

Rainwater re-use is expected to save 119,600 litres of water a year - or enough to fill six-and-a-half Aventura 312 touring caravans or just over four Fiat camper vans.

The solar-heated showers could save enough electricity to prevent 5739kg of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere annually.

And ground source heat exchangers use the earth's ability to store heat and provide either heating or air conditioning as required.