A couple who built an eco-friendly house, which has been dubbed the "Hobbit House", are due to find out if it has won a top design award.

Judges have picked the underground home of Sav and Heidi Pavlou at Brambledown as one of Britain’s top 10 most innovative projects.

Winners of the Build It Magazine awards for best self-build architect or designer will be announced this evening.

WATCH: Our reporter takes a look inside Sheppey's 'Hobbit House'

The project has cost the couple, originally from Newington, their £240,000 life-savings and has taken 14 months to complete.

But although they have now moved in with their children they are still making finishing touches to the building’s roof.

Their dream house has been driven by a love of nature and passion for self-sufficiency and sustainable living.

They intend to open the house to schools, groups and those interested in the eco-lifestyle to share their knowledge.

They have planted reed beds to process sewage, have installed bee hives and fitted solar panels for electricity.

They have been helped by volunteers from all over the world plus inmates from one of the Island’s prisons.

They employed one bio-tech builder to manage the project at the start and packed chalk into 800 recycled tyres to build the walls to keep in the heat.

The house has an air-source heat pump for hot water and reuses rainwater. It also boasts a glass wall made from recycled bottles.