MAJOR solar energy schemes to benefit Waverley council house tenants and schools have been badly hit by a Government bombshell.

More than 3,000 council homes across the borough were surveyed with a view to fitting solar panels which would have provided free energy to tenants during daytime.

The ambitious scheme was made possible thanks to a generous national "feed-in tariff"(FIT) on offer until March 31 next year.

But the plan to install panels on the 1,200 properties found to be suitable is now in disarray following the Government shock announcement last week that it has brought forward the deadline and will slash the FIT by 50 per cent for panels installed after December 12.

For full story, see this week's Haslemere Herald.