An unused tennis facility at a hotel will be swapped for more than 300 solar panels.

Arun District Council has given the green light to plans for a ground-based solar installation on the grounds of the Avisford Park Hotel situated in Yapton Lane, Walberton.

The abandoned tennis court will become a solar setup with 308 panels, including inverters, storage units and an expansion of the current wire-mesh fence surrounding the facility.

The plans will link to an existing plant room at the hotel, assisting with its power supply.

A small amount of the electricity produced will also be supplied to the National Grid.

Avisford Park is a four-star hotel that originally served as a Georgian manor house and holds Grade II listed status.

The tennis courts, however, were only constructed more recently, in 1976.

Walberton Parish Council opposed the plans, expressing worries about how they would affect the local landscape and historic views.

The council called the proposal out of character and maintained the panels would ruin the local views from the golf course and from a heritage asset.

Nevertheless, planning officers stated the solar installation would not seem imposing and would not cause detrimental harm.

The panels will only reach 0.35 metres above ground level, reducing their visual footprint.

Furthermore, planners indicated the cable pathway has been engineered to prevent damage to the buildings historic structure.

Avisford Park Hotel spans 89 acres and provides 140 bedrooms, a dining facility and an 18-hole golf course.

Previously under Hiltons management, the hotel transferred to Crest Hotels in 2022 in a transaction valued at 8.95 million pounds.