A golf club is going green with the instalment of new solar panels. Accrington and District Golf Club has bought and installed 12 panels as part of a £15,000 scheme to generate its own electricity and reduce utility bills.

Club secretary Stuart Padbury said the panels are a ‘long term investment’ and the club will start generating a profit after the first four to six years.

He said: "These days we are always trying to save money and everybody is trying to go green. We have thought about it for a number of years and we deduced it would be of benefit to our members. Any money we can save on the electricity and utility bills we can then spend on our course – which is our prized asset – and the clubhouse building to make it more attractive for people to come here."

Plans to install the 4kw panels at the club on Devon Avenue, Oswaldtwistle were submitted to the council in December and received clearance from officers last week.

The panels will be used to generate electricity from solar energy during daylight hours for use by the golf club with any surplus will be sold to the national grid as part of the governments Feed-in Tariffs scheme.

The panels are expected to generate more than 3,534kw of electricity every year, saving more than 2,850kg of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere.

Ward councillor Marlene Haworth said the solar panels were a ‘brilliant idea’.

She added: "Good for them they are doing that. I have noticed quite a few people are very interested in solar panels. I hope it works for them."