Stunning drone footage of solar park construction

Filmed by 49-year-old roofer Stephen Melling, who lives near the Grimsargh site, the footage shows the panels hundreds of feet in the air.

Expected to generate enough energy to power more than 3,000 local homes, the solar farm was given the green light in July last year by Preston Council’s planning committee.

The solar park is the area’s first when TGC Renewables Ltd submitted the application.

The Preston road site is expected to last for 25 years and Stephen explains how he got into filming its progress.

He said: “I live really close by the park and always saw the workers going past.“I like the idea of clean energy and its definitely better than houses which is normally what land like that would have been used for.

“Originally I was just using the drone to look at the river just for a bit of fun and saw how good the solar park looked from above so I kept sending it up.

“I want to keep doing it until they finish and hopefully I can get some good footage when it’s all completed. I think it’s really interesting seeing the progress the park has been making.”

The construction of the solar farm involves the installation of 51 rows of solar panels, with 56 rows of panels in phase two.

The land can still be used for agricultural grazing, as well as for the solar farm.

A report to councillors said the plans would not have any “significantly undue impacts upon the visual amenity of the open countryside, residential amenity, ecology and highways.”

• To watch Stephen’s one minute 16 seconds footage, go to lep.co.uk.