A string of East Anglian MPs have called for the consultation on a row of pylons set to carve up the Norfolk countryside to be reopened.

The MPs say residents should be able to "express a meaningful choice" over the proposed route, arguing people in the east are not getting the same level of choice as the north.

National Grid's controversial East Anglia GREEN project would see a line of 50m high structures run from Dunston, just south of Norwich, to Tilbury in Essex.

The letter, signed by 14 MPs, including Norfolk MPs George Freeman, Jerome Mayhew, Richard Bacon and Duncan Baker, was sent to Greg Hands, the government minister responsible for energy.

The utility company says the scheme is needed to build more capacity in the UK’s power network, to help the country achieve its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Zac Richardson, the National Grid's company director of new infrastructure, has previously said the firm does not believe it is "technically feasible or economic" for the line to go offshore.

The MPs, led by James Cartlidge, the South Suffolk MP, have said the plans have caused "deep consternation" across Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, arguing constituents have been denied a choice.

The group criticises National Grid for refusing to consider the undersea route as an option in the East of England, while justifying going offshore in the north.

Mr Cartlidge's letter said: "National Grid are justifying going undersea off the north precisely to protect communities in the way we are denied even discussing in East Anglia.

"We are sure you will agree that this represents a gross unfairness, with one approach in one part of the UK, one in another - and yet all our constituents are bill payers, funding this infrastructure, and surely deserve equal treatment."

They ask Mr Hands to intervene and restart the consultation so residents do not feel like "second-class citizens".

A National Grid spokesman said the utilities body has considered offshore options where appropriate, but with costs being passed onto the consumer spending needs to represent value for money.

He said an undersea powerline from Scotland to England was "proposed as the most cost-efficient option in the timescales needed for delivery" but was not appropriate for Norfolk.

There will be further opportunities to comment on the East Anglian proposals before the 2024 submission to government inspectors.