A MINI hydro-electric power plant generating £20,000 worth of electricity a year could be set up in a village.

Plans to build the £100,000 plant in Tutbury have moved a step closer after a study proved it would be technically possible.

Members of Tutbury Hydro Electric Project group, which is behind the scheme, will now begin to look into the environmental and financial implications.

The aim is to use the area's industrial heritage to create an environmentally-friendly source of power.

By clearing Mill Fleam – a man-made watercourse from the River Dove, once used to power Tutbury Mill – the group hopes to harness water power to create electricity. This would then be sold to local customers through the national grid, with the money being put back into the local community.

Project chairman Steve Rhodes said: "Since Tutbury Mill closed in 1968 and was demolished, the Mill Fleam has become very blocked. In summer, it is down to just a trickle. The primary objective is to get the watercourse flowing again, which will really benefit the local environment.

"At the same time, we would like to use the water to create an environmentally-friendly source of power."

Reaction has been positive, with local councillors and residents meeting to find out more about the plan. Councillor Liz Staples, East Staffordshire Mayor and ward councillor for Tutbury, said: "I'm very excited by the potential of this project. The plant, if installed, could help to significantly lower the carbon footprint of neighbouring villages, as well as generating money to help fund other community projects within the locality."

Group members have visited a similar community-owned hydro-power scheme at Torr Weir, on the River Goyt in the Peak District, to see how the project could work.

Cathy Luffman, of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: "Hydro schemes such as this are now being investigated and installed in many places in both Staffordshire and Derbyshire on the site of old mills. They are generally completely in keeping with the locality and offer one of the best green energy alternatives at little or no cost to the environment."

The new study, complied by Derwent Hydro Developments and paid for with donations from Trent and Dove Housing Association, Tutbury Parish Council and Tutbury Civic Society, has shown that the plant could generate as much as £20,000 worth of electricity per year. This would produce 20 kilowatts of electricity.

Mr Rhodes said: "We are about halfway there now. We know that technically speaking a hydro-electric plant could work in Tutbury. Now it is a case of looking at the civil works side of the project."