Campaigners fight plans for one of the world's biggest solar farms on Suffolk-Cambridgeshire border

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Plans for a huge solar farm on the Suffolk-Cambridgeshire border that have united five villages in opposition.

Campaigners from Freckenham, Chippenham, Worlington, Snailwell and Isleham near Newmarket say energy firm Sunnica has chosen the wrong location to build one of the biggest solar farms in Europe. Sunnica says it would be low impact compared to alternative energy sources.

Campaigners say it is some of the most fertile agricultural land in the East yet much it could soon be covered in solar panels.

It will be a solar farm like this one that is planned in field on the Cambridgeshire-Suffolk border

Local landowner and campaigner Nick Wright fears the loss of farming land will ultimately threaten the UK's food security

"What is being proposed is a 2,800 acre solar panel project. If given permission, it will be the nineteenth largest in the whole world. It will be the third largest ever proposed in the UK.

"In 2020 the UK wheat was four million tonnes short of our domestic consumption. It isn't appropriate to take this land out of production."

Sunnica, the company behind the proposals, argues the scheme is needed to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.

Luke Murray from the energy company said: "We will be producing the equivalent of 175,000 household annual electricity use. That we hope is a significant contribution to the government's ambition net zero objectives."

Villagers in five communities near Newmarket have joined forces to campaign against the Sunnica solar farm

The solar farm will be around 11 times larger an average-sized solar project and campaigners estimate the perimeter would be about 30 miles long.

The size of the solar energy farm means a final decision will come from the government rather than local councils.

The Covid pandemic has prevented public meetings with developers and opponents say many of their concerns - especially over safety - have yet to be satisfied.

The planned solar farm would be one of the biggest in the world and the government will decide on whether it should go ahead

Steve Wilson is a member of the local Community Action Group: "Everyone understands that we have a climate emergency and in an emergency you do things quickly.

"I'm not suggesting we don't so the right thing but we also don't just do anything, we have to make sure what we're doing is the right thing."

The consultation period for the scheme is scheduled to end on 18 December this year. Sunnica says it is listening but many locals fear their voices aren't being heard.