Lord Ashdown set to step into Shropshire and Mid Wales pylons row

Montgomeryshire Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Jane Dodds has invited Lord Ashdown to visit Welshpool tomorrow.

Miss Dodds said she plans to launch a "No More Pylons" petition during the meeting against plans by National Grid.

It comes just two weeks after current Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg visited Berriew, near Welshpool, to give his support to Miss Dodds's pylons campaign.

Mr Clegg called for National Grid to bury a planned cable which would carry electricity generated by windfarms from a proposed substation at Cefn Coch, near Llanfair Caereinion, to Lower Frankton, near Oswestry.

It is planned that part of the line should go underground while other parts could be carried on pylons.

Organisers say that although it is still early days, if the high voltage electricity line does pass close through Maesbrook, near Oswestry, there must be ways to ensure they bring some benefits to the village.

People living in the village and surrounding area will be able to have their say at Maesbrook Village Hall tomorrow night.

Protesters have been given until February 9 to respond to the consultation.

The proposed power line would link windfarms in Mid Wales and a sub station at Cefn Coch to the National Grid line at Lower Frankton, near Ellesmere.

Villagers are being urged to consider the impact of traffic during construction of the power line and of a service access that would be needed to reach any pylon.

Visual and environmental impacts would also have to be taken into account.

Cathy Preston, one of those involved in the meeting, said: "If we have concerns, or want to try and get some benefits for Maesbrook then comments must be with National Grid by February 9.

"We would like people to come to the meeting to share their views and discuss what benefits we could try to get for the village if the pylons come."

The pylon network would take more than two years to build and work could start by 2019.

Miss Dodds said: "It is vital that we look after our countryside for a number of reasons.

"The view is important for our tourism industry, attracting business and for the people who live here.

"I will be raising this with Paddy Ashdown on Thursday when he visits and will launch a petition for No More Pylons to build on the work already carried out by campaigners and communities here."

During his visit to the area, Mr Clegg said that the plans were "just not in keeping with the fabulous countryside".

Lord Ashdown,73,was leader of the party from 1988 to 1999 and he is the current chairman of the Liberal Democrats' team looking at strategy for May's General Election.

Under the National Grid's plans, the line would carry energy created by five windfarms which are currently the subject of a public inquiry to the national energy supply.

Last week, more than 100 campaigners held a surprise protest at a National Grid consultation event being held in in Llansantffraid, near Oswestry.

Jonathan Wilkinson, leader of Montgomeryshire Against Pylons, again called for National Grid to bring the plans to an immediate halt.

He handed bosses a letter signed by local community council chairmen calling on the grid to leave the area.

He said: "Now Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, has called on the grid to bury the cable the whole way, it really is time for the organisation to go back to the drawing board and realise that what it is doing is completely wrong.

"We want National Grid to go home and forget about coming back to Montgomeryshire.

"It wants to destroy our area and is not welcome.

""We need to keep our message out there. We cannot allow our countryside to be ruined for future generations.

"We want National Grid to go and not return here again."