Pylon campaigners have called on Labour to take an 'educated and evidence-based position' after shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves pledged her party's support for plans to route the structures through the Suffolk and Essex countryside.

During a two-day trip to East Anglia in which she met business leaders for a reception at the iconic Willis Towers Watson in Ipswich, she said a future Labour government would back National Grid's plans for the 50-metre high pylons.

The structures are set to line a 112 mile route from Norwich to Tilbury and will carry renewable energy, including electricity produced by wind farms off the East Anglian coast.

READ MORE: Suffolk pylon campaigners accuse Government of 'bribes'

However, Rosie Pearson, founder of action group Essex Suffolk Norfolk pylons, said she supported the so-called 'Great Grid Upgrade', but with a number of caveats.

The campaigners fear the pylons will damage the countryside and the rural environment. 

She said power was generated offshore and as 92% of the power was needed in London and the south, it should stay offshore until it was needed.

She called instead for an offshore grid to be created, which she said would be cheaper than pylons, which she described as 'dinosaur technology'.

READ MORE: Labour's Rachel Reeves meets business leaders in Ipswich

She also said the network could be 'reconducted' using lightweight conductors that carry five to six times more power and would need fewer and smaller pylons, while also saving money.

Meanwhile, existing infrastructure, including a disused substation and pylons at Bradwell in Essex, could be repurposed to accept offshore power.

She said: "It is imperative that Labour takes an educated and evidence-based position."

The shadow chancellor said it was 'time to get on' with building the energy infrastructure.

READ MORE: Suffolk news

She said: "There is a big opportunity for the UK to become the energy leaders of the future and we need to seize that.

“We’ve got to crack on and build the energy infrastructure to heat our homes and get people’s bills down.

"Renewable energy is the cheapest energy form.

“Investment is being held back due to a lack of grid connections and if we carry on like this we’ll find ourselves increasingly reliant on Putin and other dictators around the world for our basic energy needs."

Suffolk Coastal MP Therese Coffey called on Labour to listen to local views.

She said: "The blight of enormous converter stations on our rural landscape is a very real risk and one that I will continue to fight. Labour should listen to local concerns."