The Duchess of Cornwall's son-in-law has been accused of playing on climate change fears in bid to push through a 220-acre solar farm.

       Harry Lopes, who is married to Laura Parker-Bowles, is the owner of Eden Renewables, which has acquired land near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

       The firm plans to erect the solar farm on the site, between the villages of Leigh Delamere and Sevington, and claims the energy generated will power 13,000 homes.

       It also proposes to leave land fallow and improve the quality of the soil while allowing room for sheep to continue grazing to enable food production.

       However, Philip Davey, a lawyer and Leigh Delamere resident who is leading a campaign against the proposals, said they would "hardly benefit" the local area.

       "Eden has very deliberately and cynically appealed to the climate emergency, whilst painting a picture of this solar installation increasing biodiversity and enriching the community," he said.

       "The reality is that this is first and foremost a commercial development that will industrialise the landscape with third rate and rapidly ageing technology and cause a great deal of damage to local wildlife and biodiversity."

       There are also concerns among residents about the environmental impact of importing 100,000 solar panels from China.

       Mr Lopes has employed Sophy Fearnley-Whittingstall, the sister of the television chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstal, to co-ordinate a PR campaign seeking to make the case for the scheme in response to the backlash.

       A spokesman for Eden Renewables said: "We understand that solar farms can divide opinion, but there is a lot of local support for this solar farm.

       "The recent extreme weather has underlined to many people the importance projects like this have in contributing to green energy generation and helping tackle the climate emergency."