A small US town in North Carolina has rejected a proposal for solar panels in the area after claims that solar farms would suck up all the energy from the sun.

Woodland town council called the meeting after members of the community raised concerns over the proposal to allow Strata Solar Company to build a solar farm on a nearby highway.

Bobby Mann, a citizen of the town, warned that solar farms were “killing your town” and that “all the young people are going to move out”, according to a report in the local Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald newspaper.

He added that solar farms would suck up the energy of the sun and and businesses would stop coming to Woodland.

During the Woodland town council meeting, Jane Mann, a retired science teacher, said she worried the solar panels would prevent photosynthesis from happening and subsequently kill the local plant life.

Ms Mann also questioned the number of cancer deaths in the area, saying there was no proof solar panels didn’t cause cancer.

“I want to know what’s going to happen,” Ms Mann said. “I want information. Enough is enough. I don’t see the profit for the town.”

Mary Hobbs, who has lived in Woodland for 50 years, said she had watched the area become a ghost town. She said her home was now surrounded by solar farms and no longer worth its value.

A spokeswoman for Strata told the meeting that solar farms were proven to be safe and said there would be no negative impact on property values. A spokesman for the group said it was “tried and true technology” and that there were no toxic materials on site.

The council later voted for a moratorium on future solar farms, according to the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald.