The National Grid is planning to drive a chain of “monstrous” pylons through the heart of the east Kent countryside.

They are part of a multi-million energy project connecting a new substation on the site of the former Richborough power station to an existing one in Canterbury’s Broad Oak Road.

The most likely route for the pylons – which are between 45ft and 180ft tall – is along the River Stour with its quaint villages and rich agricultural land, prompting fears they will blight the area’s natural beauty.

National Grid says it will consult villagers this summer about the best route for the pylons before submitting a planning application for them in two years.

Ky Wilkinson, who runs the Tor Spa Retreat at Ickham, said: “These are monstrous, ugly things. We live in a conservation area where it’s difficult to change the colour of your front door so I can’t see how they would allow pylons in this beautiful part of Kent.

“It’s only about 10 or 13 miles to Canterbury from Richborough and I don’t see why in this day and age they can’t bury electricity cables in the ground.”

Known as the Richborough Connection, the project will link an undersea 400,000 volt electricity cable from Zeebrugge in Belgium to the east Kent coast and then to Canterbury.

Electricity will flow backwards and fowards between the two countries.

But Lewis Jenkins, who runs vegetable producer Nethergong Nurseries at Upstreet, has concerns. He said: “A load of pylons running through an area of amazing natural beauty is not what many people in this area want to see.

“I accept there is a need to provide people with energy, but there ought to be other ways of doing so rather than building pylons near villages and rural industries.”

National Grid insists the project is necessary to meet increased and changing power needs.

The company will meet with villagers, community groups and landowners to work out where to draw strips of land known as route corridors for the pylons.

Project manager Steve Self said: “We want to listen to local views so they can help shape our plans.

“We’ll have a lot more information to make available by the time we launch our consultation in the summer and will ensure that anyone wishing to share their feedback has the opportunity to comment on our proposals.”

There will be two rounds of consultation before a planning application is submitted in 2015.