WIND turbines should not be placed on Trawden's hillsides because they will "ruin" the area for tourists, councillors said.

In a u-turn from Pendle Council's policy to champion individual electricity generation, plans for a 15m turbine at Cemetery House, Boulsworth Hill, were rejected after senior members complained the landscape would be "destroyed."

The proposals, which went before Pendle Council's Colne Committee, had received mixed reactions in the village, but were supported by the parish council.

Coun Graham Roach, the council's 'energy champion', said it was the authority's responsibility to cut carbon emissions through schemes like this one, while applicant Daniel Smith said windmills were a symbol of conservation.The proposed turbine would have provided electricity for the entire farm.

But Coun Tony Greaves said no windmills or wind farms should be placed on hillsides, calling instead for off-shore and coastal turbines.

He said: "We are serious about bringing more tourists into Pendle and a lot are going to go walking in those fields and moors.

"We are going to destroy that if we allow these things scattered all over the whole landscape.

"You can say we'll look at each one on its merits, but the fact is that sooner or later it's going to be impossible to stop any of them because the case people will put forward is that actually there is no landscape to preserve any more and another one, or 10, or 100, won't make any difference any more.

"From the experience we have with a single turbine at the Herders in Laneshawbridge, it's an appalling object and it's a disgrace that it's been allowed in a moorland setting.

"I question whether it's possible to make the changes needed to cope with climate change without sacrificing our beautiful and precious landscape."

Coun Dorothy Lord added: "We should be looking to the future for energy, but saying that, would you want one in your back yard? Probably not."