TWO North-East MPs were invited to tour a solar farm as part of a campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of renewable energy.

The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) hosted the event on Friday at Lightsource’s site at School Aycliffe, in County Durham, as part of its drive to help tackle climate change.

Schoolchildren from St John’s School and Sixth Form College, in Bishop Auckland, and St William’s RCVA Primary School, in Trimdon, attended the tour and presentations along with local dignitaries plus Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson and Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman.

Jeremy Cain, community participation coordinator, said: “We want them (politicians) to be aware of the issues and to discuss them and use their influence to steer national and government policy in the right direction.

“The message is that people and the planet are intimately tied together and you can’t separate the two.

“If you treat the planet badly people suffer and if you treat people badly the planet will suffer.”

CAFOD’s main goal is to minimise climate change by reducing production of CO2.

Renewable energy is a “crucial” part of the process for the agency which has increasing concerns for the impact climate change is having on developing countries without the infrastructure to mitigate the problem.

Owned by UK-based Lightsource, the solar site near Newton Aycliffe was used as an example of how renewable energy can aid the fight.

Having finished construction in March this year, the farm will generate enough energy to run about 1,300 homes annually.