A POLITICIAN will speak at a public meeting alongside campaigners who are opposed to plans for giant pylons to be installed along the Furness countryside.

John Woodcock, MP for Barrow and Furness, and members of the Power Without Pylons group are jointly hosting a public meeting in Broughton Victory Hall on Friday October 28 from 6.30pm.

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National Grid plans to export electricity from a proposed nuclear power station at Moorside near Sellafield to the Lancashire coast via a tunnel underneath Morecambe Bay.

The project involves the erection of 50m high voltage pylons – around the same height as Nelson’s Column – in and around the Lake District National Park near Broughton.

Some residents are worried that the landscape will be scarred by the structures.

Mr Woodcock said: "While residents acknowledge the investment that the scheme will bring, there is widespread concern about the damage that stands to be inflicted on our countryside if the company uses giant pylons to see the North West Coast Connections project through.

"After three postponements the National Grid is opening consultation with the public for a 10-week period commencing October 28 and it is vitally important that we stand up and be counted.

"We need to impress upon the company that undergrounding and tunnelling the cables is our favoured option and I am pleased to be able to share the platform with campaigners."

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Power Without Pylons secretary Graham Barron said: "We are campaigning for a solution that avoids putting up giant pylons in and around the national park and that keeps the means of connection out of sight.

"We believe the best option is to put the connection offshore but, failing that, undergrounding the whole route south of Moorside is the only acceptable alternative."