The Life Water video quotes a park authority officer saying E.ON has 10 years to get the park back to its original state, adding that it would have been too time consuming to put turf back on the entire scarred landscape.

But a park authority spokeswoman said: “We are disappointed that our comments have been taken out of context. It’s important that the route is restored to the highest possible standard. However, as the film-maker was aware, most of the route is farmland which will quickly return to pasture or crops when the soil is completely returned next year.

“A short section of cable passed through rare chalk grassland. Here we made sure the turf was lifted and replaced as soon as work was completed. Reestablishment of the chalk grassland will take time so we have a ten-year monitoring and survey programme in place to make sure that the habitat returns, as far as possible, to its previous condition.”