National Grid's pylon consultation in Powys and Shropshire starts

At 35m high (115ft) T-pylons are a third shorter than traditional steel lattice pylons

Public consultation has started over a 25-mile (40km) pylon route linking planned wind farms in Powys to the national power supply in Shropshire.

In addition to the pylons, National Grid has said eight miles (nearly 13km) of cables will be buried underground in the Meifod valley.

Plans are to connect an electricity sub-station in Cefn Coch, near Llanfair Caereinion, to the supply network.

The first of 26 drop-in sessions in Powys and Shropshire started on Monday.

Britain's biggest ever public inquiry into wind farms started in Welshpool in June and could last for up to a year. It follows strong opposition to a number of planned wind farms in Powys.

Revealing its pylon plans last month, National Grid said a new "T-pylon" - which is about 15m (nearly 50ft) shorter than conventional pylons - could be used along the power cable route which would be 33 miles (53km) long.

The pylon route would start from the sub-station in Cefn Coch and finish at the national transmission network near Oswestry in Shropshire.

National Grid said it had developed a draft route to keep away from villages and would use "hills and trees as a natural backdrop to help keep any visual impact to a minimum".

About a quarter of the route would be underground, it added.

The first three drop-in consultation sessions started at Llanfair Caereinion Public Institute on Monday. Two others at the institute will be held on Tuesday between 14:00 and 20:00 BST and Wednesday from 09:00 to 15:00 BST.

Other sessions will be held in Adfa, near Newtown, Llansanffraid and Llanymynech, near Welshpool, West Felton Village Hall, near Oswestry, Shropshire and they end in Meifod, near Welshpool, on 8 November.

More information about the consultation and where and when the the drop-in sessions are being staged is available on National Grid's website.