THEY are the notorious eyesores blighting the New Forest landscape.

Rows of giant pylons cutting through the National Park’s picturesque scenery have long been loathed by rural communities and tourists alike.

Now the enormous structures could be torn down as part of a £500 million scheme to reclaim some of the country’s most cherished countryside.

The National Grid has launching a major investigation into proposals to bury hundreds of miles of high voltage lines underground to reduce the impact of its infrastructure on protected landscapes.

Politicians in the New Forest have welcomed the feasibility study but warn more needs to be done to ensure the tunnelling underground cables do not cause even greater environmental damage.

The region has been shortlisted among eight Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) where 12 sections of high voltage lines are deemed to have the most significant impact on surrounding countryside.

The announcement follows an independent study by landscape expert Professor Carys Swanwick assessing 571k of the grid’s power lines running through some of the country’s most treasured landscapes. The cost of dismantling lines and burying them underground will be funded by a £500m allowance from Ofgem available until 2021.

It includes a £24m initiative for alternative engineering methods including re-positioning pylons and screening them from view.