The final stage in a project to remove overhead power lines from one of the region's beauty spots will get under way next week.More than £300,000 is being spent on removing 3km of lines and 40 supporting poles from the Blythburgh Marshes, in north Suffolk.

The final stage in a project to remove overhead power lines from one of the region's beauty spots will get under way next week.

More than £300,000 is being spent on removing 3km of lines and 40 supporting poles from the Blythburgh Marshes, in north Suffolk.

The existing lines run across the Blyth Valley to Blythburgh village and are currently visible from the famous Holy Trinity Church - also known as the cathedral of the marshes.

The project, being run by EDF Energy, started in 1996 when a steering group of environmental experts voted to remove the power lines and install underground cables.

Nigel Collier, of EDF, said: “This is the final stage of this project, which was started in 2006. Working in marshland has demanded extremely detailed planning, but we have overcome the local conditions to make the removal of overhead power lines a reality in this much-loved beauty spot.”

The project was made possible thanks to a grant from the energy industry regulator, Ofgem, and in total EDF plans to invest £2.9m on removing overhead power lines across the region.

Neil Lister, projects officer with the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Unit, said: “Not only is the Blyth Valley a beautiful landscape, it is also an area of high heritage and wildlife value, which emphasises how important schemes such as this can be in improving the region's finest landscapes.”