An MP has voiced his concern over the "potential threat" to two Suffolk RAF bases due to battery storage sites at the proposed Sunnica solar farm.

Nick Timothy, MP for West Suffolk, spoke during a UK Air and Missile Defences meeting in Westminster Hall on Wednesday morning about the potential risk to residents and air base personnel at RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath. 

He said the battery energy storage systems (BESS) included in the Sunnica scheme could be vulnerable to "acts of sabotage" by hostile states and terrorists.

Sunnica solar farm was approved in July (stock image)The Sunnica solar farm was approved in July (stock image) (Image: Newsquest) The 2,500-acre solar farm on the border between Suffolk and Cambridgeshire was given the green light by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, in July.

This comes after several unidentified drones have been seen flying near Suffolk airbases this week. 

Mr Timothy said: "The Director General of Mi5 recently said that we now face state-backed sabotage and we should expect to see continued Russian acts of aggression here at home.

"They are on a sustained mission to generate mayhem on British and European streets: we’ve seen arson, sabotage and more."

He continued to reference previous BESS fires at similar sites caused by  lithium battery failure leading to thermal runaway.

"This can cause explosions and the resulting fires cannot be extinguished using conventional methods," he said.

Nick Timothy, MP for West SuffolkNick Timothy, MP for West Suffolk (Image: Newsquest) "Four years ago a fire at a BESS site in Liverpool took 59 hours to put out. And similar stories apply elsewhere around the world where these facilities have been constructed.

"The fires emit toxic fumes which means that people in the vicinity must remain indoors throughout.

“So I think that the risk to the sites given the location of the Sunnica solar farm is quite obvious.”

He asked for a meeting with the minister of defence procurement, Maria Eagle, and she responded: "As far as I’m aware we don’t have concerns about that development in the Ministry of Defence but I fully acknowledge that his constituents do and I’m more than happy to offer him the meeting that he sought in order that I can understand more fully the concerns that have been raised with him.”