SLASHED bills and shrunken carbon footprints are the twin aims of a new energy co-op in Basingstoke.

The Basingstoke Energy Services Co-op is one of 40 organisations in the UK to be allocated some of the £8m from the Department of Energy and Climate Change to help install eco-friendly heating technology into homes.

Now the not-for-profit Basing View-based organisation needs up to 40 home owners to come forward to help secure up to £200,000 of the total pot.

Under the scheme, the Government will pay up to 40 per cent of the cost of installing either a hi-tech ground source heat pump, or heat-generating solar panels.

Despite residents being asked to pay up to 60 per cent of the installation costs, the co-op’s founders, renewable energy experts Martin Heath, and Andy Molloy, say the technology will halve annual energy bills.

“We are lucky that Basingstoke has got this grant,” said Mr Heath. “But we have to take advantage of it, otherwise it is going to slip through our fingers.

“We need people to come to our events and talk about it.”

The co-operative is preparing to post 10,000 leaflets through borough doors and to hold events.

The Government grant is only open to homes that rely on oil, coal, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), or electricity for central heating. Homes with mains gas are not eligible.

“We are going to help people through the entire process,” said Mr Heath. “We will do all the leg work.”