Council houses in Botesdale are the first to benefit from a solar panel scheme which could save them £150 a year.

Mid Suffolk and Babergh district councils are installing the panels on more than 2,000 properties in their ownership and hope to save £5million over 20 years.

Now tenants in Park View, Botesdale have become the first to have the panels installed on their homes after the project got under way earlier this month.

The main benefit for those living in the houses is the free use of electricity generated by panels on their property.

The councils also receive money from the panels through the Government’s Feed-in Tariff scheme. They also hope to make a significant contribution to their objective of protecting the environment by removing an estimated 80,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the National Grid mix over the lifetime of the scheme.

Councillor Marilyn Curran, Mid Suffolk District Council’s portfolio holder for housing and environmental health, said: “This scheme represents great benefits for everyone.

“Residents will be able to enjoy the use of free electricity during the daytime and reduced energy bills overall and both councils will receive an income through selling the surplus back to the grid.”

Councillor Jennie Jenkins, leader of Babergh District Council, said: “We are thrilled that work has now begun on this scheme which will not only generate valuable income for the council and therefore benefit all residents, but it will also help many of our tenants to cope with the rising costs of energy prices.

“We will also be looking at how we can extend this scheme in the future.

“Combined with this are the green savings that each council is making.

“The systems will materially help to reduce the carbon footprint of our two districts.”