Plans for pylons across swathes of Norfolk countryside have been branded a "disgrace" by county councillors, who want to see power cables laid beneath the sea instead.

One councillor said it was "not fair" Norfolk should have to "pay the price" to get power to London and the South East through 50-metre-high pylons installed across miles of farmland.

All 60 members of the county council voted unanimously to a Conservative-led motion criticising National Grid’s Norwich to Tilbury Project.

Consultation on the project is under way, and the council's vote means County Hall will write to the government and National Grid urging a "refocus" so an offshore solution can be found.

Eastern Daily Press: The pylon plans have sparked oppositionThe pylon plans have sparked opposition

Energy bosses want to build the 112-mile line from Dunston, near Norwich, to Tilbury on the Thames estuary, to carry power generated from wind farms off the Norfolk coast.

Eastern Daily Press: County councillor Keith KiddieCounty councillor Keith Kiddie

At Tuesday's meeting of Norfolk County Council - which came before Vattenfall's announcement that it was halting work on one of Norfolk's major wind farms - Conservative Keith Kiddie said his Diss and Roydon division would be "dwarfed" by pylons.

He said: "We have a 2020s problem and they have given us a 1950s solution."

Eastern Daily Press: County councillor Lana HempsallCounty councillor Lana Hempsall (Image: Conservative Party)

Lana Hempsall, the council's deputy cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport, said: "Pylons to bring this supply overground are a disgrace.

"It's not fair and not right for Norfolk residents to have to bear the burden of this so-called modernisation under the banner of renewable energy to the South East.

"It is not fair and it is not right that Norfolk should have to pay the price."

READ MORE: Norfolk pylon consultation blasted by South Norfolk Council

Eastern Daily Press: Norfolk County Council leader Kay Mason BilligNorfolk County Council leader Kay Mason Billig (Image: Norfolk County Council)

Council leader Kay Mason Billig said: "I would rather see it go offshore, but if it cannot, it needs to be buried."

Eastern Daily Press: Campaigners do not want the pylons to be built on countrysideCampaigners do not want the pylons to be built on countryside (Image: Newsquest)

National Grid has said the scheme is needed to increase supply, as demand increases.

It says an offshore grid would be costlier to energy bill-payers, with less capacity than an overhead route.