A WELL-KNOWN author has signed up to a campaign to stop the construction of giant pylons.

Bill Bryson, who wrote ‘A Short History Of Nearly Everything’ and ‘The Road To Little Dribbling,’ is backing Friends of the Lake District, which opposes National Grid's plan to build pylons through 24km of the national park.

The charity wants National Grid to bury power cables underground instead.

The pylons form part of National Grid’s North West Coast Connections infrastructure project to run 400kV cables around the west of Cumbria from Carlisle to Heysham.

In support of the campaign, Mr Bryson said: "This is one of the finest landscapes on the planet.

"It should be cherished and nurtured, not used as a convenient shortcut for business interests."