Thousands of pounds worth of funding which has been secured for a potential hydro scheme in Shrewsbury has been branded ‘fantastic news’ by delighted councillors.

The Shrewsbury Hydro Group, part of Transition Town Shrewsbury, secured £15,000 of funding in a public vote run nationwide by the Energy Share Launch Fund of British Gas.

The funding will enable a range of surveys to be carried out for the project, which is one of nine currently under consideration by Shropshire Council.

Councillor Alan Mosley, for Castlefields and Ditherington, said it was an excellent result and that he hoped it would move the overall project forward.

He said that he would be pressing Shropshire Council to speed up a process which had already been in the pipeline for several years.

He said: “I am going to press the council to move the whole project forward as soon as possible and I hope this news provides fresh impetus to both the Shrewsbury Hydro Group and Shropshire Council to get moving on the scheme subject to widespread consultation with residents”

He added: “Securing that amount of funding is an excellent result and I want to congratulate the group and their success reflects the wide-ranging support for a project at the weir – and this will obviously take it a step forward. This is a much needed project at the weir and there have been discussions for several years which concluded that it was a prime site for this type of scheme.”

The Hydro Group finished joint winners in the small category after winning the support of almost 2,000 people in a decision revealed on Saturday in London’s West End.

It started with 800 groups but the competition was whittled down to 19 finalists who were put to a public vote in June.

Surveys including a full Flood Risk Survey, a Fish Pass Survey, and a Protected Species Survey plus associated work will be carried out thanks to the £15,000 over a three month period.

Local firms will start work at Shrewsbury’s weir, in Castlefields, before Christmas and bosses expect to have the results by the end of February.

Under the project a turbine could be installed alongside the weir generating almost two million kilowatt hours of electricity every year.

It would save up to 1,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions when compared to using electricity from a conventional power station.