What was once a chicken farm in Sleaford is now lined up to become a nature park, with solar panels as one of its prominent features.

The 239-acre park is said to be the first of its type in Lincolnshire, according to the Lincolnshire Echo, with features including picnic spots, education areas and a visitor centre.

Seven fields could potentially feature solar panels, with the wildlife areas set to surround the allocation of photovoltaics.

Boiling Wells Farm is the site of the park, and could see panels which could create enough power to create 6,000 homes – a figure close to the total number of homes in the Sleaford area.

Director of the project Guy Bebbington said: "By the end of this decade the UK will have lost one-fifth of its current energy generating capacity.

"We need to address this shortfall, and renewable schemes like this one have a vital role to play in meeting the country's energy needs in the future."

Energy efficiency is becoming more and more of a focus for local governments as they try to cut energy bills for a number of their residents and generally cutting the carbon emissions in their constituency.

Furthermore, it is vital that governments prove their commitment to wider plans to reduce dependency on fossil fuels.

While solar parks might be coming increasingly popular throughout the UK, this is the only concept in the area that has a strong focus on visitor attraction.

The park will have wildflower meadows and wetlands, which will prove to be excellent habitats for local wildlife. It is hoped that these open countryside areas will bring a number of people to the park, where they can also see the huge allocation of solar technology.

Power generated by harnessing the sun's energy could be used to provide cheap energy to local residents, or could be sold at a premium rate by accessing the feed in tariff, where electricity is fed back to the National Grid.