AN AMBITIOUS plan to slash Bury residents' fuel bills with an innovative energy scheme has been axed – because of Brexit.

In February, Bury Council leader Cllr Rishi Shori announced the town hall wanted to form its own green energy firm, providing cheap electricity to thousands of the borough's residents.

However, the large-scale project depended on funding from the European Union and Cllr Shori says there is now no chance of that happening because of last month's referendum decision.

Council chiefs have confirmed the scheme is "dead in the water" and say that instead they are now planning to join a Greater Manchester wide alternative project.

Cllr Shori, who campaigned for Britain to stay in the EU, said he was optimistic that Bury residents will benefit from the new plan, but town hall sources have privately spoken of its limitations.

"The Bury Energy Company plan was to produce our own energy and sell it cheaply, but the county-wide plan is to just sell energy from the wholesale market. It doesn't do anybody much good," said the source.

However, Labour leader, Cllr Shori insists that the Greater Manchester scheme will still be beneficial.

He said: "It is disappointing that we cannot explore our original plan, but the Greater Manchester-wide project does have merits and could mean more choice for householders."

About 10 per cent of Bury's households are considered to be in fuel poverty, as they cannot heat their homes appropriately given the cost of power.

Cllr Shori's original plan was to change that by setting up a publicly run company that would produce solar, wind and hydro power and sell it at a heavily discounted rate only in Bury.

One option the council's ruling Labour group was exploring was installing solar panels on the rooftops of all Six Town Housing properties.

"We fundamentally want to address the situation by reducing the cost of power in a green and sustainable way, which would benefit all the residents of Bury," Cllr Shori said in February.

At the time, he added: "We will look to funding available from the EU to fund the research and initial investigations in respect of this project, with a proposed completion date by 2020."

But that is now off the cards.

"It is important to emphasise that the project had a lot of hurdles to overcome, and might not have ever happened, but it didn't even get to reach the first hurdle because of Brexit," the council source said.

Meanwhile, Bury Conservatives were last night expected to call for unity after 54 per cent of Bury voters opted for Brexit.

All 16 Bury Tories signed a motion urging the council to "note the views of the people in our borough who, by a clear and decisive majority, expressed their wish to leave the EU."

The motion continued: "However, this council will resolve to work together on a cross-party basis with the Government to make the transition to life outside the EU institution as smooth as possible.

"We also need to ensure that we keep a strong and positive relationship with our European neighbours and, in particular, with the towns of Angouleme in France, Schorndorf in Germany and Tulle in France who are our European twinning partners."