A new solar array has been given the go-ahead to help power a Suffolk farm shop.

East Suffolk Council has approved the renewable energy equipment, which will be used to provide electricity for Emmerdale Farm Shop at Darsham.

Five rows of solar panels are set to be installed in the field to the south of the farmhouse at Marsh View Farm in Westleton Road.

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Energy from the array will be used to power the business, which has been owned and run by the Thickitt family since 2003.

The shop operates a traditional, open plan, in-house butchery specialising in home produced beef which has been slowly reared and grazed on the site's fields and marshes.

Visitors to the shop can also participate in daily sausage tastings, while there is also other produce available, including homemade pies, quiches, sausage rolls and scotch eggs.

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The panels will be set on the ground and will be angled to tilt to the south to gain maximum sunlight.

In a planning statement, Alan Stannard, the agent for applicant Jeremy Thickitt, said: "The array of solar panels will be used to power the successful Emmerdale Farm Shop.

"Emmerdale Farm Shop has been owned and run by the Thickitt family since 2003.

"It now employs 14 full-time staff and three part-time staff. Emmerdale sells
everyday staples plus a vast assortment of local produce.

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"The Thickitt family also owns and runs Clarke's Butchers of Bramfield."

In recommending approval, planning officers said in a report that the solar array would not have any 'adverse impacts on the landscape character and visual amenity arising'.

The planners said: "The application accords with planning policy, the applicant is not an elected member or member of staff or close relative, the land is not owned by the district council and in terms of consultation responses received, the parish/town council does not object, the ward member has not commented and there have been no objections from statutory consultees."