WARRINGTON Borough Council is set to pay £18 million for a 50 per cent stake in a Scottish energy company.

The Labour-run authority is also expected to grant a £4 million loan to Together Energy, which is based in Clydebank.

The deal over the equity stake and loan was approved by the cabinet at the Town Hall on Monday evening, subject to a ‘risk workshop’ on September 16, although the financial details were discussed in private.

A final decision will not be made until after the workshop.

Deputy council leader Cllr Cathy Mitchell said the investment will help the authority deliver on its climate emergency resolution by ‘hopefully offering 100 per cent green energy’ to the town’s residents.

Furthermore, she told members it will help to ‘relieve’ fuel poverty, which faces around 10,000 people in Warrington.

“We are also hoping it will generate a commercial return for the council which, again, we can reinvest in frontline services,” she added.

“It (Together Energy) now has a customer base of about 91,000 people, the company has a strong social agenda.

“It is based in the Clydebank area, which is one of the poorest areas in the country, and it regularly engages with charities and social organisations.

“It has proactive schemes to get the long-term unemployed back into work, which is a very important point.”

Cllr Judith Guthrie, portfolio holder for environment and public protection, said the move ‘really ties in’ with the borough’s green energy strategy, while Cllr Tony Higgins, cabinet member for leisure and community, believes it reflects on Labour’s pledge to protect the most vulnerable in society.

The deal is expected to deliver employment opportunities, with the opening of an office in Warrington due to create at least 20 jobs in the first year.

Together Energy will open its Warrington operation in The Base, on Dallam Lane.