The leader of the opposition group at Norwich City Council has urged people to back a campaign to safeguard the future of solar panel.

The government this week lost its bid to overturn a High Court ruling that its plans to cut subsidies for solar panels on homes are unlawful.

The challenge to the government's plans to cut feed in tariffs had been made by Friends of the Earth, but the government has indicated that it plans to take the matter to the Supreme Court.

However, Claire Stephenson, the leader of the Green group at City Hall, urged people to send a message to the government it should halt any plans to challenge.

She has added her name to a letter from Friends of the Earth to the Prime Minister saying he should stop the challenge.

She said: 'I'm signing the letter to David Cameron as he needs to guarantee a future for renewable energy. Appealing this decision again would be a waste of time and money. The government needs to honour its original offer and support the solar industry.'

The letter can be signed at www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/solar_future_34704.html

As reported in the Evening News, the uncertainty ahead of the appeal meant a contractor which had been picked to install solar panels on 30,000 council homes in Norwich pulled out of the deal.

City council officers have had to go back to the drawing board in an attempt to find another contractor to install the panels.