Scottish Power's latest refusal to bury parts of the Beauly-Denny power line has been met with criticism from Stirling Council, which said it was "extremely disappointed."

Original proposals to limit the visual impact of the overhead line, which passes east of Stirling, were rejected by the local community.

Scottish Power has repeated its position that undergrounding would be too expensive and would delay the project.

Scottish ministers approved the 440kv power line upgrade in January 2010.

It will consist of a network of 600 pylons and connect renewable power generated in the north of Scotland to the national grid.

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Scottish Power were asked to draw up plans to limit the visual impact of the power line by the government and the original mitigation proposals for the Stirling area included painting the towers a darker shade and planting greenery to screen them.

Then Energy Minister Jim Mather told the company to look again at burying the line after fierce opposition and the company was ordered in March to reconsider burying the line.

Chair of the authority's Beauly-Denny steering group, Callum Council, said Scottish Power's latest proposals were "essentially the same" measures that had already been "unanimously rejected" by local communities.

He added: "Stirling Council have issues with SPT's [Scottish Power's] conclusions on the range of mitigation options considered and dispute the weighted assessments and findings.

"The council will challenge these during the forthcoming formal consultation with Scottish ministers."

A spokesman for the Scottish government said ministers would make a decision on Scottish Power's latest proposals after consulting with Stirling Council.

(JG/BMcC)