North East supermarket chain Booths has installed 1,000 solar panels on the roof of its packaging and distribution centre.

The family-owned retailer which has nearly 30 stores splashed £275,000 on the project and hopes it slashes CO2 emissions by around 114 tonnes per year.

The solar panels are expected to generate roughly 6% of the electricity at the Preston site which also has its central office. With a yearly output of 223,074kWh, Booths reckons enough could be generated to power this office including IT systems.

It’s the latest in number of energy and waste efficiency improvements including CO2-based refrigeration, air-source heat pump systems and fitting doors to chilled retail cabinets.

Edwin Booth, Chairman of Booths said: “Sustainability lies at the heart of our business, from short supply chains to energy efficient stores build with green principles. [We] are committed to reducing our carbon emissions even further.”

Booths said it has mapped the carbon footprint of its supply chains and its buying team use these findings to influence where it gets food from.

The business recently cut out almost all air freighted Californian cherries, stocking 100% British cherries during peak season.

It also gave examples of “stretching” the UK asparagus season and processing most of its prepared fruit in the UK.

In 2012, the annual carbon footprint of Booths and its product supply chains was an estimated 255,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, roughly one four-thousandth of the greenhouse gas footprint of UK consumption.