A PARLIAMENTARY bill which would enable communities to sell locally generated energy to local people has been backed by MP Tim Farron.

Currently, if a community owns a local energy structure, such as a field of solar panels or a wind turbine, they are not able to sell the energy it generates to local people.

But the Local Electricity Bill would create a 'right to local supply' for communities, allowing them to benefit from the money currently received by larger utilities.

"We warmly welcome Tim Farron's support for this initiative," said Steve Shaw, director of Power for People, an organisation campaigning for more local, clean energy,

"People like clean, local energy most when they know that their communities are receiving benefits from it. The Local Electricity Bill would enable this to happen across the country."

Mr Farron said he would do everything possible to ensure the bill became law.

"It is vital that communities benefit as our economy transitions to one with increasingly more decentralised and clean energy," he said.