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Controversial plans for a solar farm spread across more than 2,000 acres have taken a step forward with the planning inspectorate confirming it will examine the scheme.

The Lime Down Solar Park project is planned for countryside near Malmesbury in north Wiltshire with a 14-mile cable planned to connect it to the National Grid near Melksham.

The project is large enough to be designated a nationally significant infrastructure project which requires consent from the government, rather than Wiltshire Council.

Many residents have campaigned against the project, with concerns about the impact on the countryside and farmland.

Now the application has been accepted, it is in a pre-examination stage, which takes around three months.

It is also the period of time when there will be an opening for people to be able to register to have their say on the application.

The application will then go through several stages – which could take more than a year – before construction work begins.

The decision can be appealed and grounds for a judicial review can be reviewed at the High Court.

Previously local residents as well as Wiltshire Council leader Ian Thorn have been critical of the plans.

Thorn told the BBC: “We are supportive of renewable energy, of traditional solar farms, but this is a monstrosity that is a step too far.”

Campaigners have argued the Malmesbury project is not the right way to develop solar energy.

Sir Mike Pitt, spokesperson for Stop Lime Down campaign said the group was “dismayed” by the inspectorate’s decision and the plans were “significantly flawed”.

But developers Island Green Power have said the project would power 115,000 homes and “support national and regional aims to decarbonise our electricity systems and bolster our energy security”.