A COMEDIAN paid a visit to Knutsford in a bid to install solar panels on the roof of the Conservative Club in a stunt aimed at George Osborne's cuts to the renewable energy industry.

Josie Long, together with a team of solar panel installers, visited the Conservative Offices in the early hours of Tuesday, December 15 to film a stunt aimed at installing solar panels on the roof of the building, which is owned by the Tatton Estate.

In August, the government released a consultation, which if approved would cut support for solar, wind and hydro power by 87 per cent and put 20,000 solar jobs at risk.

The government argues it needs to protect wider energy bills from the rising impact of renewable energy subsidies and that this justifies paying rooftop solar installers 4.39p per kilowatt hour from February instead of the existing 12.47p.

Amber Rudd, the energy and climate change secretary, has said: "My priority is to ensure energy bills for hardworking families and businesses are kept as low as possible whilst ensuring there is a sensible level of support for low carbon technologies that represent value for money.

“We have to get the balance right and I am clear that subsidies should be temporary, not part of a permanent business model. When the cost of technologies come down, so should the consumer-funded support.”

However, the stunt failed after Tatton Estate members of staff stopped the workers from installing the panels.

But Long, writing in the national Guardian, said: "According to the IMF, Britain subsidises fossil fuels by a whopping £400 per person. That’s over seven times as much as we subsidise renewables.

"In fact, Britain under Osborne is now the only G7 country to be increasing subsidies to fossil fuels. Plus, unlike planet-screwing fossil fuels, solar could actually be subsidy-free in a few years. At this crucial stage for the industry, it makes no sense to pull the plug.

"It would be funny if it wasn’t devastating and stupid.

"So this is why we delivered an early Christmas present from the Keep Fits campaign on behalf of the 80% of British people who support solar power.

"We thought maybe Osborne just thinks he doesn’t like solar power because he’s ideologically opposed to anything or anyone under 20 years old. So we wanted to give him an opportunity to try it out before he makes his mind up about destroying the entire UK solar sector.

"Sadly, the gift was refused. So we’ve offered the panels to Boris Johnson’s constituency office instead. Let’s see if Boris has a better eye for a deal."