The installation of solar panels on the south roof of Bradford Cathedral is expected to be completed on Friday when they will start generating power.

Work started today on hoisting the blue-tinted panels into place - after the morning service.

Cathedral authorities believe that Bradford’s historic Grade 1 listed building is the first cathederal in the world to generate its own electricity by means of photovoltaic cell panels.

Although costly at £50,000, the installation, it is hoped, will halve the Cathedral’s energy bills and pay back the C02 emissions cost of making the panels within three years.

Canon Andrew Williams, who leads the Cathedral’s Eco Group, said: “The cash saving to us will be between £3,000 to £4,000 a year. More importantly, the panels will save just over three-and-a-half tonnes of carbon a year.

“That contributes towards the Church of England’s target of cutting carbon emissions by 42 per cent by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050.”

Eco-conscious Canon Williams - he wears a green vestment - emphasised that great care had been taken to ensure the protection of the fabric of the Cathedral, parts of which survived bombardment by Royalist artillery during the English Civil War.

“The PV panels will be laid on top of stainless steel sheets that were put on the south roof in 1993. The panels are clamped on very carefully and will be able to stand up to extremely strong winds.

“Nobody can see the roof from ground level. There’s been a big fuss about that,” he added.

Even though the panels are due to start work on Friday, Canon Williams hopes to have a ceremonial switch-on by somebody notable next month, during Bradford University’s Science Week.

In the words of the hymn Mount Zion, by John Betjeman: “Sing on with hymns uproarious/ Ye humble and aloof,/ Look up! And, oh, how glorious/ He has restored the roof!”