THE French government's plans to finance a new power station in Somerset are likely to be illegal under EU law, according to legal opinion.

The announcement comes from Greenpeace who commissioned the report.

They say that any French state financial support for EDF to build new nuclear reactors at Hinkley would almost certainly be blocked by the European Commission.

A final investment announcement on the decision is now long overdue but a decision is expected next month. 

The UK government has given support for the build of Hinkley C but the European's Commission's current approval is currently being challenged in the European Courts. 

Green MEP for the region and opponent of the project, Molly Scott Cato, welcomed the opinion.

Molly said: “The numbers for the Hinkley deal have never stacked up and it is clear that the commercial case for this white elephant is dead.

"We have now a political battle where the stakes for both the UK and France are just too high to admit failure.

"But we cannot let this override EU rules on state aid or fair competition.”

A spokesperson for EDF said that they would not be commenting.