North Wiltshire MP James Gray has made a stand in Parliament against plans for solar farms on greenfield sites.

During today’s questions to Matthew Hancock,  Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change,  Mr Gray said that his constituents are “besieged” by planning applications for solar farms on greenfield land, and that any such projects should be constructed on brownfield sites and the roofs of buildings.

He said, “The people of north and west Wiltshire strongly support renewable energy, but we are besieged by hundreds of planning applications from London-based commercial operations for solar farms, not on roofs of factories or brownfield sites, but on greenfield sites across the county.”

He called for “a strong presumption against the use of agricultural land and a strong presumption in favour of industrial roofs and other places".

In response Mr Hancock said: “There is no point in destroying our green and pleasant land in order to save the global environment. We have to tackle security of supply and climate change in a way that also protects the local environment.”