Residents fear a proposed 1,300-acre solar farm near Weymouth will blight the countryside by 'turning it black' with panels.

They claim the Chickerell Solar and Storage Scheme, reported in the Echo last week, would pose a threat to agriculture and ruin the countryside.

Some people from Chickerell, Buckland Ripers, Coldharbour and Tatton say they will voice their opposition to the plans at two upcoming information events held by Statera Energy, the firm behind the scheme.

As reported in the Dorset Echo, the events will be held at Willowbed Hall in Chickerell on Tuesday, November 22 between 6pm and 8pm and Portesham Village Hall on Wednesday, November 23 between 1pm and 7.30pm.

Steven Weeden, a Tatton resident, will "definitely be going" to the event in Portesham as he considers the project "far too big".

He said: "It's a beautiful valley and they are just going to turn it black. You've got to see the site to appreciate it and see why we're objecting to it."

A Coldharbour resident said: "At the front of my property it's proposed that there is going to be a 67-acre site of batteries and, to put it bluntly, they look like portable toilets on their website."

She added: "We're on the Jurassic coast, it's not a very nice thing to see for visitors coming to the area."

Statera Energy told the Dorset Echo it plans to burrow the battery storage units into the ground and insist they will be no taller than three metres.

In 2018, the National Grid said it was to going to remove 22 pylons and 8.8km of overhead cable to give uncluttered views of the countryside across part of the proposed site for the scheme.

Mr Weeden said: "(The National Grid) spent millions taking pylons down and now (Statera) want to cover it in black (panels), which doesn't make sense."

Statera Energy accepts that residents may disagree with their proposal but in response they said: “If people rule out all farmland and countryside the Government would never achieve its solar targets.

“There is simply not enough roof space even if it was practical to deploy it on all buildings.”

Robert Gutteridge, a farmer from Buckland Ripers, claims the vast scheme poses a threat to agriculture in that area.

He said: "They shouldn't be taking out valuable agricultural ground, if anything we should be encouraged to be farming more land.

"There are better places with poorer farmland to put solar panels on like the side of motorways, not land has been farmed for hundreds and hundreds of years."

However, Statera claim the scheme being put forward is primarily on poorer quality land. Spokesperson, Rebecca Kaye said: “There are no vegetables grown in these fields and the land is not suitable for high value crops.

“The Government is encouraging solar deployment on poorer land because it helps the country meet its renewables targets without losing any material food production capacity.”

Statera add that, if necessary, the solar panel could be completely dismantled at the end of its operation and revert to farmland.

Councillors from Chickerell Town Council and Dorset Council have arranged a consultation next week to discuss the proposed plans.