SALISBURY Cathedral has invested £25,000 into solar power, as it continues its "transformative change" into a carbon-free future.

The city's first community share offer was launched last month by Salisbury Community Energy (SCE), in which the group has tasked itself to raise £227,000 to install solar panels in Salisbury.

The cathedral's investment will help the installation of panels across seven sites, including the Cathedral Cloisters.

The Very Reverend Nicholas Papapdopulos, Dean of Salisbury, said the cathedral is "proud" to be a part of the share offer, adding: “Christians are called to protect and enhance the delicate ecology of God’s wonderful world.

"Developing and expanding our capacity to create renewable energy is vital for our common future."

The Right Reverend Nicholas Holtam, Bishop of Salisbury, added: “Salisbury is a traditional and an innovative city. We need transformative change to move quickly towards a net zero carbon future.

"What an opportunity investment in these solar panels gives to combine renewable energy with the cathedral. It is the right thing to do.”

Before the cathedral's investment, the total raised was £139,400.

Following the launch of the share offer initiative, SCE-funded panels have already been installed on St Martin’s Primary School in Salisbury, and on Kong, High Post, and the next installation will be Wiltshire College (Salisbury campus) in January.

In response to the latest share investment, Mike Smyth of Schools’ Energy Co-op and Alison Craig, founder of SCE, said: "We are delighted by this vote of confidence from the cathedral.

"We hope others will feel inspired to follow their example and will invest in Salisbury’s zero carbon future."

The cathedral recently achieved Silver Eco Church status, and Canon Robert Titley, cathedral’s treasurer and environmental lead, said more must be done to tackle the climate emergency.

He added: “As our climate moves into crisis we are striving to make our cathedral part of the change we all must make. This investment shows our commitment to that change.”