A new solar farm the size of around 170 football pitches has been recommended for approval for a Suffolk village.

Mid Suffolk District Council's Planning Committee voted seven to one in the meeting on Wednesday to recommend approval for the plans, for the site at Grange Farm on Old Bury Road, to the west of Palgrave.

The application is for the new Grange solar farm, on land off Lion Road, for the installation of solar panels along with substation, security fencing, and landscaping.

The site, near Diss, is currently agricultural land, and the plans involve a farm over a total area of 90 hectares, or more than 220 acres.

The land would also continue to be used for agricultural use, but also include a ground mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) farm.

The application was made by Pathfinder Clean Energy and submitted to Mid Suffolk District Council in May last year.

The proposed solar farm is expected to have a capacity of around 48MW using solar panels fixed to the ground using metal piles, using PV panels to generate energy from daylight and distribute it to homes and businesses.

This would translate to generating around 49.9 Gigawatt hours of clean renewable energy each year for about 16,000 nearby homes and businesses through connection to the electricity grid.

According to planning application documents, this will produce enough power to offset more than 11,600 tonnes of CO2 per year.

In order to "minimise any views into the site", a 105-metre set back from Millway Lane has been included in the plans, and a new hedge planted in the north-east stretch of land to screen the development from the "quiet lane".

The application adds that no significant pollution would be produced, and only low-level noise would be created from the transformer units, which would be positioned away from residential properties and footpaths.

The development is also expected to create the equivalent of 20 full-time jobs.