Solar panels at Lakeside in Portsmouth are given the go-ahead by Portsmouth City Council

Members of its planning committee unanimously agreed last month to green light the £11m scheme, describing it as 'another example of how this authority is taking the climate emergency seriously'.

But the failure of the council to initially issue the required press notice advertising the planning application meant its decision could not be formally ratified until a month later on Tuesday (November 1).

Under the project, the council will install almost 2,000 panels on the roof of the Lakeside buildings and a further 11,000 on canopies erected above its car parking spaces. It said the panels will providing up to 5,900kwp of power.

This is the equivalent of 1,000 tonnes of carbon emissions being saved a year by replacing more polluting methods of producing electricity.

Funding will come from the £30m Low Carbon Projects Fund set up by the council this year with the money borrowed to cover the cost of its schemes.