The first salvo of the pylon wars was fired today by villagers furious at being in the path of a massive new power line that will stretch hundreds of miles down Englands east coast.
Officials want to install a vast new network of overhead lines snaking from the port town of Grimsby down to Tilbury in Essex as part of a plan dubbed The Great Grid Upgrade.
Lincolnshire County Council is uniting with its counterparts in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex to oppose the plans - but Labour are supportive with Sir Keir Starmer backing the building of more pylons to connect to offshore windfarms.
Today, villagers whose beloved local landscapes are set to be despoiled told MailOnline they felt absolutely devastated and are already fighting back.
One of the areas destined to be covered by pylons is Broads Green in Essex, which sits between the picture-postcard villages of Little Waltham and Great Waltham.
Anna Davies, a 40-year-old therapist, grew up in Great Waltham and said of the pylons plan: I think its a shambles
Sir Keir Starmer has warned Britons they will have to accept more pylons by their homes in order to avoid large increases in energy bills
Officials want to install a vast new network of overhead lines stretching from the port town of Grimsby down to Tilbury in Essex
Across the area people have pinned protest signs to garden gates and fences, with some reading: 180km of giant pylons. Say No!
The landlord of The Walnut Tree in Broads Green, 81-year-old Peter Stokes, said of the pylons: I do not want them. One, its going to spoil the countryside. Theyve got alternatives that are less destructive. They may cost a little bit more [the alternatives] but at the end of the day people have got to live.
They do not want to be looking out of the window and see bloody great pylons.
People are buying these houses because its in the countryside and there was nothing spoiling the view. Now you are going to get a lot of pylons with the electric magnetic field that comes with it and thats going to spread across the area here.
The value of properties has been going down. Theres a new house up for sale down the lane here and its been on the market five times and each time its been reaching closure the sale has fallen through. People do their searches and find out about the pylons.
At his speech at the Labour conference last month, Sir Keir described the construction of pylons near homes as one of the hard choices that his government would have to take.
He later described underground power lines as too expensive and said: If you want lower energy bills, were going to have to have pylons above the ground.
But Lisa Lawrence, 29, and her partner Oliver Booker, 35, who began renting their semi-detached house in Great Waltham two months ago, are opposed to the plans.
Pylons are set to pass near the picturesque village of Little Waltham in Essex as part of the Great Grid Upgrade
The landlord of The Walnut Tree in Broads Green, 81-year-old Peter Stokes, said of the pylons: I do not want them
A view of St Mary and St Lawrence Church in Great Waltham
Ms Lawrence, a nurse, said of the pylons: Im not a big fan. With the traditional look of the houses here, to have to drive along and see these pylons will take away from the heritage and look of the village.
Once they put the pylons up you wont be able to go back.
Oliver, a marketing manager, said: It would be better without the pylons. Surely theres the technology to do it differently. Theyre going to look horrendous.
It will take away from the awesome British old-school village that it is.
Great Waltham is made up of thatched and timber-framed houses and 1930s council houses with carefully tended gardens next to modern and Victorian cottages.
Anna Davies, a 40-year-old therapist, grew up in Great Waltham and said of the pylons plan: I think its a shambles.
Obviously its a blight on our landscape. Its going to be quite destructive to the wildlife. Its taking away livelihoods, were scheduled to have seven in the field behind our house.
We have one of the greatest concentrations of pylons [proposed] and I know that the people who own the farm behind us will be put in a tight spot.
The pylons are going to go through their land. The infrastructure of the roads will change the way they can farm.
Virginia Manley, 65, works for a book company and lives in Broads Green.
She said: One of the pylons is going up behind me. I found out about it 18 months ago. Im going to have a dirty great big pylon 200 yards from my back garden.
It will be going right up my dog walking track. All the lorries will be going up directly behind me.
Ive been in my little council house for 14 years and its a beautiful place. These pylons are just going to be an eyesore. The property prices have all gone down. People cant sell their homes.
I dont think they [the pylons] are good for your health. Couldnt they go underground? Were not in the 1970s or Eighties. Theyre just awful. Theyre so big.
Little Waltham local Sarah Holiday, 54, spoke out against the plan, but Nick Nice, 71, said it was necessary
The war memorial in the village of Great Waltham in Essex, which pylons will pass near
Several houses in Great and Little Waltham (including this one) have anti-pylon signs near to them
Linda Barnes, 70, with her dog Flo, and Steph Oddwell, 69, both opposed the plans for pylons in Essex
Lisa Lawrence, 29, and her partner Oliver Booker, 35, who began renting their semi-detached house in neighbouring Great Waltham two months ago, are opposed to the plans
Jean Ridgewell, 77, and Linda Barnes, 70, both said they opposed the pylons and asked why they could not be put underground.
But Nick Nice, 71, from Little Waltham, said of the pylons: Theyre necessary. People dont like change. Putting them underground is expensive.
People like their television and their fridge and they keep building houses and the system cannot cope. Everything is electric now.
In the picturesque village of South Reston, near the town of Louth in Lincolnshire, there are banners and posters along the High Street urging people to say no to the pylons.
Farmer Carl Benson and his wife Helen, both 58, are the sixth generation to have worked the land at Hall Farm, which Helens family started in 1947.
They describe the land, with its population of owls, kestrels, kites, and even the odd roe deer and kingfisher, as well as like a wildlife park.
But they are now facing a future of looking out over just under half a dozen 160ft tall pylons zigzagging across their wheat fields.
Mr Benson told MailOnline: It will be very imposing for us and the village and it will ruin the views all down this stretch of coast. We are quite close to the village here and some people living nearby have been absolutely devastated.
We have been to every National Grid meeting about the scheme to present our case but I dont hold out much hope. Keir Starmer is saying we just have to put up with things and I think the Government will do as it likes.
They say overhead cables are the cheapest option but would it really cost that much more to bury the cables or put them under the sea?
LINCOLNSHIRE: Farmer Carl Benson is furious that his land is set to be built on
Banners opposing the pylon scheme have been put up around the village of Louth in Lincolnshire
Mr Benson complained that the pylon route had been poorly chosen, adding: It is so remote here I dont think a lot of people will realise what is going on until it is too late. The No Pylons Group on Facebook are doing a good job.
But the planned route seems to be going very close to every town and village along the way so the powers that be dont seem to care.
The other issue is we cannot farm the land where the pylons are going and they dont buy it off you. They just pay compensation and that has not even been discussed yet.
The nearby village of South Reston is slap bang in the pathway of the route which cannot be altered because it is sandwiched between the higher ground of the Wolds and the sea.
But villagers say they are being denied any voice in the debate because they only have a parish meeting, not a full-blown parish council, which would be an official consultee.
Locals packed a recent public meeting to declare their unanimous opposition to the scheme which they fear will ruin the local tourist trade and severely impact local agriculture.
They want the cables buried or run off shore under the sea to preserve an area rich in local wildlife including bats, bees, owls, waterfowl, newts, and livestock, particularly horses.
Ian Keal, 51, who chairs the Reston parish meeting, lives just nine miles from the site of a 30 acre sub station planned as part of the scheme.
The company directors says the substation alone will be three times the size of his ten acre small holding in the village centre.
Ian Keal, 51, (left) chairs the Reston parish meeting and is against the plans, while Dr Rhavinda Kedia believes they are necessary
South Reston is slap bang in the pathway of the route which cannot be altered because it is sandwiched between the higher ground of the Wolds and the sea
He said: We dont all have the luxury of converting to a parish council which we do not have the resources to do.
We spent a great deal of time preparing a report on the local concerns. The Environment Agency said oops sorry you are not included because you are not a parish council.
So we dont count according to them. National Grid has not proposed any alternatives. They have just said they are going to do it via pylons because it is the cheapest option.
But no one has done a break down about the long term costs such as compensation and the knock on effect of the damage to the environment.
They are just pointing the finger at the Government saying it has to be the cheapest solution. But there is no evidence this is the cheapest solution.
The villagers accepted the investment will be vital in getting energy from wind and solar farms into the grid but are worried about the impact on agriculture.
Mr Keal added: It is all very well being self sufficient in energy. But what about all the farmland will be lost? Local people will have clean electricity for their cookers but no local food to put in them.
There is also concern about the impact on tourism. There are at least three campsites in South Reston and three sets of holiday cottages in Authorpe and North Reston.
Villagers are also calling for a study on the risk of micro shocks to horses and their riders from the high voltage cables, as well as noise and dirt during the construction phase, and buzzing noises from the completed pylons.
The village is also on the flight path of migrating geese which have flown into high level cables before, leading to power cuts.
Mr Keal raged: The line of pylons will be going straight through nearby Hall Farm, crossing a medieval moat and a protected copse of trees.
In the town of Louth itself, six miles away, locals are concerned that the pylons will be almost as tall as the spire of the huge medieval parish church.
The tower is 150 feet tall and from the ground to the tip of the spire is 298ft. So the pylons being built near the town would be higher than the tower and almost as high as the spire itself.
A sign on a tree near Louth in Lincolnshire protesting against the controversial pylon plans
Villagers in South Reston are using the local community board to organise a fight back
One churchgoer said: It makes you think. It is such a shame that these things will be striding across the lovely countryside and despoiling it.
In the town, Mark Ryder, 69, said: It is all a question of money. They would have been better off underground but more expensive.
And local GP Dr Ravindra Kedia said: I think it is a good idea. I agree with the plan. It will help increase our capacity in relation to energy.
Anything like this will have some consequences to local scenery and wildlife. But at the end of the day we are living in an era with many burning issues to the local population, such as the cost of living.
I think the UK should become energy independent rather than relying on foreign sources, like the European Union or Russia.
Lincolnshire County Council previously said the pylon scheme would irreversibly change the character of our county and was unacceptable.
Council leader Martin Hill said: We believe National Grid have prematurely ruled-out putting cables on the seabed to transport this energy to southern England.
It now emerges that they have refused to take the views of certain parish meetings into account in their consultation, excluding some directly affected communities from contributing.
Advocates of the pylon plans point out that demand for electricity is expected to rise by 50 per cent by 2035 as households switch to electric cars and heat pumps.
National Grid carries out developments to its network based on recommendations from the National Energy System Operator, an independent organisation.
The new pylons across the east coast are estimated to cost £1billion, versus £4.3bn to £6.5bn for cables buried underground or under the sea, according to projections from National Grid.
The body has stated that it will work to reduce impact on local wildlife and that electricity carried by the pylons will be used across the UK.
A spokesperson for National Grid said: When we are developing new electricity infrastructure projects, we consider all technology options, and share them at public consultation.
The government and our regulator Ofgem require us to assess our proposals against a range of factors, including value for money to bill payers and impact on the community and environment to ensure they are in line with current planning policy, our licence obligations, and net zero targets.
A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: Our mission is for clean power by 2030 because clean, homegrown energy is the best way to protect billpayers and boost Britains energy independence.
Securing Britains clean energy future will require improving infrastructure to get renewable electricity on the grid. Without this infrastructure, we will never deliver clean power for the British people and upgrading the electricity network is a key part of this.
It is important we take people with us and are currently considering ways to ensure communities who live near new clean energy infrastructure can see the benefits of this.