Ed Miliband is being urged to block plans for a huge new solar farm which could affect the future of the Newmarket racecourse.

The Energy Secretary has been warned by campaigners that horses and jockeys could be blinded by the glare from the solar panels, if the £600million mega project goes ahead.

Mr Miliband’s department has so far dismissed concerns that the proposed development would adversely impact races.

It concluded in a report that that reflections from photovoltaic (PV) panels would either not be ‘geometrically possible’ or that screening by existing vegetation would prevent them from spooking horses.

But Nick Timothy, the MP for West Suffolk and a former Downing Street Chief of Staff under Theresa May, said the Labour minister was ‘ignoring the needs and interests of a beloved national industry’.

‘This is the reality of Mindless Milibandism’, he told the Sun.

The Sunnica Energy Farm, which will cover 2,500 acres, was first proposed under the previous Conservative government before it was signed off last year by Mr Miliband.

Ed Miliband has been urged to reconsider plans for a huge new energy farm next to Newmarket racecourse in Suffolk

Campaigners have raised concerns that horses and jockeys could be distracted and even spooked by glares and glints from the panels. Pictured: Horses racing at Newmarket last October

Mr Miliband greenlit the development last summer within three days of becoming Energy Secretary (file image of a solar farm)