Families building new earth covered eco-houses have agreed to let pupils invade their homes to see how they can help win the fight against climate change.

The school buses will unload on a country road near Holmfirth, where one house is being built and another could soon get the go-ahead from planners.

Gerald Parker, of Upper Maythorne Lane, near Holmfirth, and his neighbours David and Sue Barker, are hoping to create the "earth shelters", which have roofs made from soil and are covered in grass.

Building work has just started on Mr Parker's three-bedroom house, which he hopes will be ready for his 18-year-old daughter in the next three years.

He said: "It's going to be like a community of Teletubbies here. The house itself will be absolutely unique.

"I am building it because I want my daughter to live in a very inexpensive home. Covering the roof with earth is one of the best ways to reduce energy bills because it insulates the home."

Geography departments of nearby schools have already expressed an interest in visiting Mr Parker's house on field trips when it is complete.

His plot is a disused quarry, which will be transformed into a haven for plants and wildlife. He hopes to use geo-thermal heat and solar power to warm the building.

Mr and Mrs Barker, of Hog Close Lane, want to put their environmentally-friendly home on nearby greenbelt land. Barnsley Council has not yet approved their development, but planners have already asked whether the Barkers would allow school children to look round on trips.

In a letter to the council, Mr Barker said: "We would consider it a privilege to offer access to view the unusual concept that earth sheltered house design brings...

"We are hoping to include environmentally-friendly energy saving features which, again, would be educational and, hopefully, of interest to students."

The proposed houses have been designed by renowned Yorkshire architect Arthur Quarmby, who is president of the British Earth Sheltering Association. Many features of the Barkers' proposed house reflect traditional weavers' cottages in the West Riding.

Mr Quarmby, who built the country's first earth shelter near Huddersfield in 1975, said: "We are entirely in the hands of the planning committee.There are only a half a dozen of these houses in the country as a whole."

The Unites States has 100,000 earth shelters.

Making an earth shelter into home
The benefits:

The grass-topped houses blend into the landscape

Buildings beneath soil are extremely energy-efficient with very stable temperatures

Less maintenance involved, with no gutters to clean or outside walls to paint

The house is protected from souund and damage from the elements

The downsides:

More expensive to build

Personalised houses might be difficult to sell on

Planning permission and mortgages can be a problem