CAMPAIGNERS have welcomed a decision by council planners to refuse a controversial proposal to erect more than 17,000 solar panels on land near Langho.

Ribble Valley Borough Council voted against the scheme, put forward by Mulbrick Clean Energy LLP, to build a solar farm the size of 14 football pitches at Little Snodworth.

The plans were refused on the grounds that the proposed site was on green belt land and it would be harmful to the visual amenities and character of the area.

Dennis Teulon, a member of the local action group Langho Matters, said: “We are not against the development of solar panels and renewable energy at all, but it was just in the wrong area.”

In a letter to the council, a spokesman on behalf of the applicant said: “The proposed solar farm therefore provides an excellent opportunity to diversify the land use, increase the site’s biodiversity and improve the habitat, as well as increase the quality and the value of land.”

Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans said: “The environment can be damaged when solar farms detract from the natural heart of rolling green fields.”