Rutland's MP has renewed calls for local residents to back her petition to block a 2,175-acre solar farm from being built in the area.

Alicia Kearns has reiterated the need for local residents to present a "collective and justified opposition" to the Mallard Pass development on the Lincolnshire border.

The project is currently under examination by the Secretary of State's Planning Inspectorate Board who are unlike to come to any decision before November.

"As we progress through the Planning Inspectorate’s Examination of Mallard Pass, we are approaching a crucial stage when the Secretary of State for Energy will decide whether to approve the application," the Conservative MP for Melton and Rutland said.

“I need your help now more than ever to represent our collective and justified opposition.

"I am asking everyone opposed to Mallard Pass to write me a letter explaining why, and to also sign my Parliamentary Petition, which I will personally deliver to the Secretary of State for Energy."

The MP is running two initiatives to ensure the "strength of opposition in affected communities" is heard.

Firstly, she has launched a letter campaign, calling for those opposed to the proposed development to send a letter explaining why, which Alicia will then present to the Secretary of State for Energy.

Letters can be posted to: Alicia Kearns MP House of Commons SW1A 0AA

Secondly, her Parliamentary Petition against Mallard Pass can be signed by any resident in the UK over six years old, and will be presented to the House of Commons.

Sheets can be posted directly to anyone in the country by emailing: [email protected]

The latest statement on Mallard Pass comes as an amendment put forward by Ms Kearns to the energy bill will be debated on Tuesday.

The amendment would require solar energy company to prove that their supply chains are free of slave labour.

The amendment has cross-party support including a host of senior backbenchers.

The Conservative MP has previously spoken in Parliament demanding the government does more to vet potential developers.

In the past few years there have been increasing reports internationally that China is carrying out forced labour and ethnic cleansing programmes targeting the Uyghur population and other Turkic and Muslim-majority peoples in Xinjiang.

Several countries, including the US, have previously officially declared that the People's Republic of China is committing genocide and other crimes against humanity in the area.

The Mallard Pass Solar Farm development by Windel Energy and Canadian Solar would cover more than 2,000 acres of farmland across the Rutland and Stamford border area and would generate enough power for 92,000 homes.

It would be eight times the size of the UK's current largest solar farm.