Sir – I consider myself an ardent environmentalist and live what many people would consider a frugal lifestyle with my carbon footprint at minimal levels.

In popular terms I would normally be expected to support wind power. However I consider turbines to be one of the greatest environmental threats faced by Britain.

As has been pointed out before in your columns, turbines only operate for 25 per cent of the time and require conventional power stations to supply constant back-up.

They do not make economic sense except to the developers who receive £1.3m per turbine in subsidies and tax breaks. But their greatest environmental effect is on the landscape which has taken centuries to evolve and yet can be devastated by the greed of wind power companies.

There are vast swathes of Scotland, Wales and Northern England whose beauty has been sacrificed and the list of casualties grows by the day. Anyone who has visited Romney Marsh recently will testify to the destruction of its character by the new wind farm on its border.

Considering the cost, it may be asked why the Government supports, with such vigour, the development of thousands more turbines. The answer stares you in the face, literally. The authorities wish the public to believe they are doing something about global warming and what greater symbol could there be than 100ft-high turbines spreading across the land like a canker. Planning controls, which give the public an opportunity to object, are being dismantled and the prospects are bleak indeed. Our grandchildren will not thank us for destroying the heritage of their land.

Paul Hornby, Jericho