COUNCIL officers will visit a solar panel development near Ludlow to check whether the construction is in line with initial plans.

Anger has been growing in Brimfield since applicant Andrew Burton was granted permission to site the panels on a new storage unit at a property in the village.

Residents living nearby claim the development is bigger than the application approved by Hereford Council last summer.

“It looks a bit like a grandstand with solar panels facing south,” said John Southwell, who lives next to the panels and is one of around 150 people who have signed a petition opposing the scheme.

“It towers above everything else.”

He claims the scale of the development grew, prompting the petition to be launched.

The village’s county councillor John Stone said he was surprised the application was granted.

“If I had realised it was going to be such a prominent feature I would have asked for it to go to the planning committee,” he said.

Despite attempts by the our sister paper the Hereford Times this week, Andrew Burton could not be contacted.

The council, meanwhile, said just one objection was received from the public when plans were originally submitted.

After asking for clarification of “site levels”, the local authority asked for a further plan to be sent in by the applicant.

“As this additional drawing was clarifying the original submission, it was not a new application and therefore further public consultation was not necessary,”

said a council spokeswoman.

“Following the start of the construction of the PV ar ray (solar panels) the council has received a number of complaints.

“Meetings have been held with the developer and the local residents to investigate whether what has been built is in accordance with the approved plans.

“This is still subject to investigation and the council will be going onsite to look into this further once the g round conditions allow.”