TV STAR Griff Rhys Jones has said the Government and National Grid must reconsider plans to build new pylons across a stretch of south Suffolk countryside.

The comedian and presenter, who has a home near Ipswich, spoke passionately about the need for alternatives to pylons to be discussed at the highest level.

National Grid wants to link overhead cables between Bramford, near Ipswich, and Twinstead, near Sudbury, to meet growing demand and will make an announcement on the route later this year.

But Mr Rhys Jones has echoed local campaigners and the East Anglian Daily Times in calling for more thought to be given to placing the cables underground to prevent blighting the landscape.

He said: “What they (National Grid) are aware of is that the planning process favours the developer or constructer because if you are turned down you slightly redesign and come back again.

“That always requires a level of tenacity of those who want to see things properly debated and done well.

“It’s only worthwhile doing these things if we are aware of not only the next 20 years but the next 500 or 1,000 years and the mistakes we make now are very hard to rectify in the future.”