Farmer offers house to Ed Miliband in pylon row

A woman has offered to sell her house to Ed Miliband in a row over the building of electricity pylons in Lincolnshire.

Jenny Pennington made the offer after the energy secretary was quoted in a national newspaper saying he would be happy to live near pylons.

A consultation is under way over National Grid's plans to build pylons to transport electricity 87 miles (140km) between Grimsby and Walpole in Norfolk.

Mrs Pennington, who runs a farm near Spalding which could be on the route of the power line, said the minister was "talking out of his hat".

She said: "Who in their right mind would want to live near all the projects that we've got happening?

"Who would want to live near a pylon?"

The BBC has contacted Mr Miliband's office for a response.

National Grid has said the pylons would cost about £1bn compared with £6.5bn to put them underground and £4.3bn for an offshore subsea cable.

However, Lincolnshire County Council leader Martin Hill said he "didn't believe" the figures and called on the energy firm to share how it had arrived at its calculations.

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “Our mission is for clean power by 2030 because clean, homegrown energy is the best way to protect billpayers and boost Britain's energy independence.

“Securing Britain's clean energy future will require improving infrastructure to get renewable electricity on the grid.

"We are currently considering ways that ensure communities benefit from living near new onshore electricity transmission infrastructure."

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