A POWER company with plans to put up 18 miles of pylons in countryside on the Essex-Suffolk border says it would be far too expensive to bury its cables.

National Grid says says it could cost 17 times as much to bury the planned 18 miles of 400,000-volt power lines from Bramford, near Ipswich, to Twinstead, near Halstead.

It expects the scheme to cost between £40million and £60million.

The proposal faced strong opposition from campaigners, including the Stour Valley Underground group.

An online petition, on the Downing Street website, urging David Cameron to force the company to bury the cables, attracted 608 signatures.

However, National Grid says burying the lines would cost many times more, forcing up electricity prices.

Cables suitable to go underground are far more expensive because the very high voltages mean much thicker insulation is needed. The burying process and maintenance and repairs are also more expensive than using pylons.

National Grid says it considered running cables along the sea bed to connect with the grid at Bradwell, but ruled that out as it would cost about £1billion more than an overhead line.

However, David Holland, spokesman for Stour Valley Underground, said: “You have to look at the cost to the environment.

“There are other measures to deal with the amount of energy coming through our area.

“We would argue the existing system, with modifications, would do the job comfortably.”