ROSSENDALE MP Janet Anderson today hit out at government confusion after being wrongly told plans for a controversial windfarm had been blocked.

The Labour politician yesterday spoke of her delight after being told environment secretary Margaret Beckett had refused to approve an exchange of common land on Scout Moor, Edenfield, which was needed for a £50m plan to put dozens of turbines on the hillside.

But it later emerged the decision actually related to an application for a 27 turbine windfarm at Whinash in Cumbria, next to the Lake District National Park.

It means campaigners fighting to keep Scout Moor as common land and not a windfarm site are still waiting for a government decision which will determine the future of the land.

Today Mrs Anderson said: "I was assured by the Minister that a decision had been made but clearly he got his windfarms mixed up."

But she said the Whinash decision could still be good news for Rossendale campaigners by setting a precedent for other applications like the Scout Moor farm.She added: "I do hope, however, that the Whinash decision may bode well for us and that we will get the decision we want on Scout Moor."

Friends of Scout Moor leading member Anne Metcalfe said: "I am very disappointed that the decision wasn't relating to Scout Moor after getting a message on my answering machine on Wednesday night saying that it was. But I am hopeful now that with the application being refused because of the common land issue, as a commoner I thought that was brilliant and I am hoping the same thing will happen here. It should set a precedent if the Tebay windfarm has been turned down on those grounds."

Last June, the 26-turbine project on Scout Moor was approved at a public inquiry, despite objections from residents, Lancashire County Council and Rossendale Council.