A council which wanted to go green with its electricity contract has had to scrap the idea.

Brighton and Hove Council usually spends about £550,000 a year on power for its main buildings.

These include its offices, seven secondary schools, the Royal Pavilion, the Lanes car park, Shoreham Airport, the Dome complex and the King Alfred Leisure Centre.

When it advertised the contract, ten companies were interested including some of the biggest in the country.

It asked suppliers whether they were prepared to go green, but nearly all refused.

Only one company, Ecotricity, offered to supply the whole contract from renewable sources of energy such as wind and water power.

But its bid was far too high for the council to accept and instead it is likely to place a tender with the lowest bidder, Yorkshire Electricty, for £435,623.

This is more than £100,000 below the current tender with London Electricity and represents a cut of 20 per cent.

Head of property services Angela Dymott said: "It is believed that green offers in the Brighton and Hove area are not as competitive as elsewhere due to the lack of renewable generation in the South East of England.

"The opportunity to try and contract with a green supplier has been attempted once again, but the market has still been found lacking."

Instead the council will do all it can during the coming year to take energy-saving measures.

Ecotricity's £536,879 bid came in at one per cent below the current supply price at a time when the prices are falling and the council was expecting a drop of around 15 per cent.

Friends of the Earth spokesman Chris Todd said "It is disappointing that so few suppliers have bothered to come back with a bid from renewable sources of energy.

"This has to be the energy of the future. With global warming, sea levels are rising and it is going to cost a lot more to protect ourselves from them.

"There has been a lot of investment in the seafront and there was storm damage there last year. This sort of thing is increasing.

"The council is making a short-term economy rather than looking at the long-term interests of Brighton and Hove.

"It is missing a golden opportunity to help create a market for renewable energy."

Mr Todd said Sussex was one of the sunniest places in the country which was good for solar power and there was also the chance to produce energy from wind and wave power.