WORK is set to begin this year on undergrounding power lines in three areas of a national park.

Northern Electric Distribution Limited (NEDL) has announced that schemes to bury unsightly electricity cables in Faceby, near Hutton Rudby, Gillamoor, near Hutton le Hole and Hutton Buscel, near Scarborough are to go ahead.

The company was given a £5.5m grant from electricity regulator Ofgem last year to pay for lines to be undergrounded in seven protected areas, including the North York Moors.

Consultation work with the North York Moors National Park Authority led to the three bids for funding being selected and construction timetables have now been agreed.

Schemes in Egton village, Egton Bridge, Appleton-le-Moors and Swainby have been surveyed by NEDL, but construction dates have not yet been specified.

Stephen Keeney, a customer liaison manager at NEDL, said he hoped work could begin in Faceby, Gillamoor and Hutton Buscel this year and be completed within five years.

He said: "The park authority has been very co-operative with us. They've supplied us with seven schemes they wish us to pursue as their priority.

"We're not arbiters of good taste or good views, we just maintain the network, so we consulted with the authority.

"Five-and-a-half million pounds sounds an awful lot of money, but it is only enough money to do one per cent of our overhead lines."

Mr Keeney said the scheme would cost NEDL a substantial sum, as the Ofgem grant only allowed 65 to be spent for every metre of underground cable, with the true cost nearer 250 per metre.

He added: "Underground schemes are massively expensive because you have to use thicker cables and there are the costs of actually digging up the earth.

"It's going to cost us an awful lot of money, but we've committed to it."

Caroline Skelly, planning policy officer at the North York Moors National Park Authority, said it was welcome news that the schemes are to get underway.

"The lines have an adverse impact on the characters of the conservation areas," she said.

The authority is now planning to bid for funding to underground lines in Over Silton, near Thirsk, Ampleforth, Carlton in Cleveland, Castleton, Robin Hoods Bay, Fylingthorpe, Kilburn, Thornton le Dale and Ugthorpe.