A RESIDENT in Poole has slammed the council's new Civic Centre solar array as an 'appalling eyesore' resembling a 'farm storage shed'.

Dave Caswell, of nearby North Road, says a number of his neighbours are also angry about how the green energy structure looks.

He also says he received no letter of notification from Borough of Poole ahead of the project's construction.

Meanwhile, latest figures show the array of photovoltaic panels - installed on the rooftop of the Civic Centre multi-storey staff car park - are already saving the borough cash.

They cost £289,800 to install and it was hoped they would save the council more than £24,000 a year. However, in just one day £87 was saved and over a 27-day period until mid-April Borough of Poole reaped £2,241.06, excluding any feed-in tariff from its power bill.

Mr Caswell said: "I rang planning to ask when the job would be completed assuming it wouldn't be left as an exposed series of metal struts.

"I was told rather brusquely it was finished and would not be cladded, blocked or painted for financial reasons.

"This eyesore is reminiscent of farm outbuildings for hay storage or a cheap shelter at a sports ground.

"This is a classic example of council planning barging ahead with no consideration for impact on residents. They don't have to look at it, it even lights up at night."

More than 500 solar panels were fitted to a steal framework and it is estimated they will provide around 13 per cent of the Civic Centre's electricity as well as helping to achieve a gross saving of more than £24,000 a year and a carbon reduction of more than 51 tonnes.

Borough of Poole planning and regeneration manager Richard Genge said: "The construction of the solar array was carried out in accordance with council policy, with adjoining businesses informed of the work ahead of time and public notices posted in the area.

"The frame was constructed to the minimum size possible to allow the solar panels to be able to work efficiently and the panels are already helping the council to achieve significant savings in energy consumption."

The project was a result of months of work by Borough of Poole's carbon management programme and transportation service and is being managed and delivered by Poole Housing Partnership.

Work started on the steel framework in January and the panels were installed and generating electricity by March.