Residents of Whitnash in Leamington Spa are celebrating victory over East Midlands Electricity in the battle of the pylons.

The planning sub-committee of Warwick District Council overturned their officer’s recommendation to accept EME's latest application in a surprise decision last night.

Residents who had protested for weeks that the pylons were an eyesore were overjoyed.

Ray Steele of Landor Street which looks out over land where it was planned to erect the pylons said:

"It’s a revelation. It’s a victory for common sense.

"EME have now been beaten three times and the residents are now calling on the district council to undertake a series of actions to make sure this does not happen again."

The residents were protesting that terminal towers at each end of a 2.4 kilometre stretch of underground cabling would be eyesores. The planning sub-committee agreed and officially resolved that the towers represented a "significant adverse effect on the environment."

But the matter is still likely to drag on. EME can now make an application to the Secretary of State for the Environment. His department will notify the district council and if the council raises objections then it will go to a public inquiry.