Dark clouds have gathered over an ambitious solar panel scheme in Kirklees.

The latest cut to be made by councillors will see them axe a project to provide solar energy for 2,000 council homes.

With a little over a quarter of the homes completed, the council has been recommended to abort the £9.2m programme immediately following government cuts to the cash generated by solar panels.

If approved by the council’s cabinet on Tuesday, the move will leave more than 1,400 council tenants without the cheaper energy bills they were promised.

It is also a blow to the green credentials of the council, which is already at the bottom of the West Yorkshire recycling league.

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When the scheme was sanctioned in 2014 it was estimated it would generate about £2.6m for the council.

But following a 60% reduction to the so-called ‘Feed in Tariff’, the council calculated it would be nearly £2m out of pocket if it continued installing the panels.

As things stand, the 574 homes that have been given panels will generate more than £450,000 in returns through solar energy.

Kirklees Green Party leader, Clr Andrew Cooper, said he blamed the government not the council for the scheme being mothballed.

He said: “The galling thing is it was helping people on low incomes to save money, many of whom are on benefits and finding it difficult to pay their rent or fuel bills because of government benefit changes.”

Solar power homes, Newsome - Looking at established solar panel projects in Newsome are, l to r, Karen Allison (Green Party candidate for Newsome), Clr Andrew Cooper and Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb pictured on Croftlands, Newsome.

Clr Cooper said he accepted Kirklees Council had been left in a “very difficult position”, with some tenants now benefitting from cheap energy and others set to miss out.

He said the council had “dragged its feet” a little on getting on with the scheme but had eventually “got the message” that solar panels were a good idea.

“Nobody could have predicted that the government would be so short sighted,” he said.

“I’m angry that people won’t get the cheap energy.

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“I’m angry that jobs will be lost in the industry and I’m angry that we’re doing less for the environment.

“We’ve lost out three times over.

“The bigger question is, is the government really committed to things like the Paris agreement and tackling climate change?

“If so then why is it cutting support to the feed-in tariff?”

The Department of Energy and Climate Change announced last year a 60% reduction in the so-called Feed in Tariff for any solar systems installed after January 15, 2016.