An energy company has taken another step towards installing a wind farm in the English Channel.

E.ON has applied for permission from the Marine Management Organisation to put a 100 metre mast on a site 13 kilometres off the Sussex coast.

The mast will collect data which will help E.ON to design the best possible layout for the location of the wind farm.

The Rampion wind farm, which was named after the county flower of Sussex by students at Davison High School in Selborne Road, Worthing, could supply about 430,000 homes with renewable electricity.

The Crown Estate awarded E.ON the exclusive right to seek consent to build the large scale offshore wind farm in January 2010.

If built, it could supply enough electricity for almost two-thirds of the households in East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton and Hove.

The scheme has already received the backing of Brighton and Hove City Council and the city’s MPs.

The company will discuss their plans with members of the Newhaven, Seaford and Peacehaven Chambers of Commerce on Monday at Woody's Bar and Grill, Peacehaven Golf Club.

An information stall will be at Churchill Square Farmer’s Market, Brighton on Wednesday (September 28) from 9am to 5pm.

For more information visit www.seafordchamber.co.uk or email Gerri Ori at gerri@brooklynmotors.co.uk