A Kent beauty spot which was once home to Sir Winston Churchill is being improved by a £224,840 investment to underground power lines near Westerham.

Electricity company UK Power Networks will be dismantling 1.3km of power lines which were first installed around the time that the great wartime leader and his family still lived at Chartwell, which was his main country home from 1922.

The company, which owns and operates Kent’s electricity network, is removing the 11,000-volt power lines and poles.

The project is being helped by a £6.6million funding pot to put power lines underground in landscapes such as the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Shaun Barrell, UK Power Networks’ protected areas project officer, said: “It is incredible to think that Sir Winston may have seen these electricity lines going up on his estate in the Sixties.

“It is incredible to think that Sir Winston may have seen these electricity lines going up on his estate in the Sixties" - Shaun Barrell

"As a man known for his love of the natural environment, you cannot help wondering what he would have thought about their removal now. I hope he would be pleased with what we are doing. It’s a pleasure to be enhancing this historic setting.”

The power lines stretch through a valley below Toys Hill, a popular National Trust countryside site which is the highest point in the Kent Downs.

Tim Owen, from Kent Downs AONB, said: “Once part of Churchill’s Chartwell estate, the heritage value of this area is high.

"Removal of the power lines in this valley will greatly enhance this important setting. Being a shallow-sided valley, the poles and power lines form a significant feature in the landscape. It’s a remote location generally free from man-made clutter.”

UK Power Networks has a special allowance from the industry regulator, Ofgem, to remove power lines in AONBs and national parks.