The amateur builders have all been on a week long training course.

The straw is tightly packed into the frame

They are using their new skills to build the house in a weekend.

Mr Wilkinson said he was surprised by the popularity of straw as a building material.

"There's a lot of people building in straw locally. It is really catching on."

The bales are used to form the walls between a timber frame.

Once the bales are in place, they are strengthened with hazel sticks and the entire structure covered with the clay dug from the foundations.

The house is expected to last for at least 50 years.

Good insulation

The supporters of straw as a building material say the walls will not be a fire risk because the bales are so tightly packed.

They also say the buildings offer twice the insulation value required by British building regulations.

Straw: "A fashionable building material"

The Amazon Nails building Company, which is based in Yorkshire, runs regular courses teaching people how to build a straw bale house.

Barbara Jones, from the company, says it is quick, economical and often visually stunning.

"I've lost track of how many there are. There's at least 100 now in the UK and Ireland.

"We're working on a major one in Ireland in the shape of a spiral. It's the first in Europe on two storeys."

Ancient skill

In the United States, straw has become a fashionable building material, and builders have been using it for years.

It started in Nebraska, where settlers had few trees to chop down.

They turned to straw to build their homes - reviving an ancient skill that is now used to build offices, homes and factories.

Farmers in Britain have long used straw bales to construct temporary animal shelters.