Two councils in Suffolk have called on EDF Energy to widen its proposed public consultation on plans for the Sizewell C development on the north Suffolk coast.

The request from Suffolk Coastal District Council and Suffolk County Council is in response to a draft document EDF sent out last month on how it intends to proceed with its consultation. Called a Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC), the document outlines how EDF would inform and involve the public in its proposals to build a new nuclear power station at Sizewell.

The formal consultation is planned to start by the end of November, marking the first stage of the planning process.

The chairman of the Sizewell Joint Local Authorities Group, county councillor Guy McGregor, said: 'Overall the draft SoCC is quite comprehensive, but there are one or two major improvements we would like to see.

'In particular, we think the proposed eight-week phase one consultation period is far too short, particularly as it would fall over the Christmas period.

'It should be a minimum of 12 weeks to give the public, our two councils and the many town and parish councils affected, enough time to respond to all the implications of a the proposed Sizewell C.'

Mr McGregor added that he would also like to see the proposed consultation zone extended to take in communities 'who may be affected by the wider transport, environment and socio-economic impacts any new development at Sizewell might have.'

EDF's communications manager for the Sizewell C project Tom McGarry said: 'We are pleased to confirm that we have received the local authorities' response to our draft Statement of Community Consultation. We are currently considering their feedback.'