A solar farm that could provide clean electricity to nearly 15,000 family homes is set to be built at Ashorne Hill.

JBM Solar Projects 24 Ltd has been granted permission to build the energy generation station on 99.61 hectares of land at Chesterton Fields Farm.

'Ashorne Solar Park', which is located off the Fosse Way, just south of Bishops Tachbrook, will be split into three sections - two for solar panels and a much smaller third area for a substation.

Surrounding by two metre high security fencing, the site will have eight sets of batteries which will store the electricity generated when it is not in high demand from the national grid.

Rows of panels will stand up to three metres high, and there will also be CCTV and a weather station installed.

JBM said the site will generate 49.9 Megawatts (MW) of renewable energy. 

The company claims this is enough to "meet the electricity demand of approximately 14,894 average family homes".

The application added: "The CO2 displacement of the annual electricity production of the generating station is approximately 37,766 tonnes compared to the same annual electricity usage from traditional fossil fuel sources. 

"This represents an emission saving equivalent to removing 6,328 average cars each driving 15,000 miles a year from the road. 

"Or, it is the equivalent of the carbon sequestered by c. 624,457 tree seedlings grown for ten years."

The site will be in place for 40 years, and the application says it will bring a net increase in biodiversity to the area.

JBM said it would take 24 weeks to build and would require only quarterly visits to clean the panels and carry out maintenance.

The application was supported by council leader Cllr Andrew Day and by Whitnash Town Council.

Approving planning permission, a Warwick District Council report said the site provided "a significant and demonstrable contribution towards decarbonisation and reliance on fossil fuels".

"The proposal has evolved during the course of the application and incorporates various measures to mitigate the impacts of the development in visual terms," the report added.

"Owing to the scale of the project and location, there will inevitably be some landscape harm as a result of the development, however, it is considered that the proposal has been designed to minimise this as much as possible."