Hobbit-style dome to solve housing woes of poor

A man has designed a Hobbit-style dome that he expects will be the answer to Third World housing crisis.

Jay Emery says that the house will cost just 2,000 pounds each that can act as a glamorous garden office or leisure building but far more importantly, provide a groundbreaking solution to how buildings are made.

"It has hobbit-esque appeal.

"But the thing is, if you were to look at a traditional South African Zulu beehive it's similar.

"But they're prone to fire and need lots of maintenance while the dome home is fireprrof and we think it's disaster resistant," Sky news quoted entrepreneur Jay Emery as saying.

Emery, who moved to the UK from South Africa, ventured into the business first by hand-making bushman burner chimneys for his company Dingley Dell Enterprises in Worcestershire 10 years ago.

Using fire cement rather than terracotta, he moved to making African pot houses for people to dine in their gardens.

Eventually, he was given a grant to construct a similar structure near Stourport-on-Severn. Now he plans to build 30 dome homes for an AIDS orphanage in South Africa.

He's currently competing in a competition to win 50,000 pounds to help prove his concept.