A £6 MILLION scheme to fit solar panels on 1,000 council houses has been abandoned by Kirklees Council.

And council leader Mehboob Khan has blamed the coalition Government’s “broken promise” for the halt.

Feed-in tariffs (FITs) – by which households receive a guaranteed income for the electricity they produce from renewable sources such as solar panels – are to be slashed from December 12.

It means the local authority can no longer afford the project.

Kirklees Council leader Mehboob Khan said: “In light of the recent announcement by central Government to review the FIT levels Kirklees Council has suspended its PV programme, until the outcome of the consultation.

“We can then review the implications of the changes.

“It is very disappointing that the Government has introduced this review as our scheme was designed to deliver energy saving benefits to our homes that are most in need, those potentially in fuel poverty.”

The news comes after the council achieved a high score for energy efficiency work in the Environment Agency’s Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme league table.