THE 50-YEAR-OLD Civic Hall in Totnes could be turned into a moneymaking eco 'power station', raising funds to help townspeople combat 'fuel poverty'.

The town is planning to spend £50,000 on a photovoltaic cell system for the town centre hall as part of a massive £625,000 green scheme for the entire town.

The electricity the 14.5 kilowatt system the cells generate will go towards wiping out the £6,000 electricity bill the hall clocks up every year.

Extra cash the town council raises by selling electricity back to the national grid will be shared between funding improvements to the hall's insulation and helping townspeople to make their homes greener.

Totnes town councillor Tony Whitty said some of the cash would be 'ring fenced' so it could be 'pumped into a fund which will support those people in fuel poverty'.

He said the money would be spent on helping those people most in need to improve the efficiency of their heating systems and insulating their homes.

At the moment the town council-run Civic Hall loses something like £20,000 a year.

The plans to install photovoltaic cells across the hall's south-facing roof is part of the Transition Town Totnes backed Transition Streets project which has just won cash backing from the Government of £625,000.

A major part of the scheme is to involve sections of the town in sustainable energy ideas, including the installation of photovoltaic cells, to try to shrink the town's carbon footprint.

Mr Whitty said the system being planned was seven times the size of one which would be used on a domestic house.

He said that surveys had shown that the hall had the wiring capability to cope with the system, although the town council would have to first receive planning permission.

He said he had been talking to local planners and added: "It is hoped to get this up and going as soon as possible."