THE new £35m Castle View development in Windsor has lifted the lid on its rooftop penthouse apartments - two out of the five were reserved on launch day.

All together over a third of apartments in the entire development have either now been sold or reserved - with 80 per cent of the purchasers being local people and the remaining 20 per cent moving closer to family members already living in the borough.

Windsorian Robin Hughes, founder and chief executive of Castle Retirement Living which created the new retirement village in Helston Lane has already seen his mother move in.

He said: "By the end of February, 25 residents will have already moved in - now we just need some better weather after the snow to enjoy the rooftop views and Sky Lounge. From our roof you get a brilliant view of Windsor Castle, The Copper Horse and St Leonard's Hill."

Castle View has also been hosting local groups and visitors including the Windsor & Eton Bowling Club who have already played on the rooftop bowling green, the local U3A and Berkshire Birds of Prey who bought two of their owls to visit residents.

It is the first development by Mr Hughes' company. He grew up in the town, went to The Windsor Boys’ school and first became aware of the concept of Retirement Villages in New Zealand, before deciding to create one in Windsor.