A Suffolk town councillor has warned that plans to create a 26 metre high converter station as part of an offshore wind energy project will create 'permanent damage' to the town.

Saxmundham Town Council has written to National Grid as part of a public consultation expressing its opposition to the proposal, which will be part of the Sea Link scheme to bring energy from offshore wind farms to Suffolk and Kent.

A 2GW cable is being planned stretching 90 miles (145km), which will include the converter station near Saxmundham.

READ MORE: Consultation on Suffolk Sea Link offshore electricity plans

However, the town council fears the plans will 'industrialise' the town, but not provide any jobs as compensation.

The council's chair Diana Eastman said: “The current proposals from National Grid will cause huge permanent damage to our historic town, changing its character forever, damaging its attractiveness and all without any compensation or benefit whatsoever for local people.

"We understand the need for an energy transformation over the coming decades, but Saxmundham must not be the victim of a series of uncoordinated projects from privately owned concerns which piggy-back randomly off each other without a nationally agreed plan." 

READ MORE: Saxmundham news