AN organic dairy has produced its first ‘green’ pint of milk after swapping diesel for eco-friendly wind power.

Acorn Dairy, which produces almost six million bottles of milk a year for homes and businesses across the North East, installed a 67m high wind turbine as part of its ecological ethos.

It provides all the power the processing and bottling plant needs; saving 1,000 litres of diesel a week and reducing the farm’s carbon footprint.

And to further their green credentials, dairy owners Caroline Bell and her brother Graham Tweddle are also planning to replace their fleet of diesel delivery vans with electric versions that will be charged by electricity generated by the turbine.

Their efforts, which include other ecological initiatives on their farms, have been rewarded by Darlington Friends of the Earth, and the town’s mayor, Paul Baldwin, attended a ceremony this week where the organisation presented the dairy with a Clean British Energy award.

Ms Bell said: “Our customers are always interested in the story behind their milk and this surety of the market we enjoy has allowed us to invest in the wind turbine.”

The 40m high Dutch-built turbine is believed to be among the first in the region to be installed to power a tenant farm and is proving to be successful even in very low wind speeds.

Mr Tweddle said: “Other farmers have given over land to wind turbines but we are among the first to use one to power the farm.

“Our steam generator uses diesel at an alarming rate and can now be replaced by an electric one.”

Friends of the Earth’s Matthew Snedker praised the dairy’s commitment to the environment.

Acorn Dairy operates farms in Spennithorne, Wensleydale and Archdeacon Newton, Darlington, and processes its organic milk from its farm at Nafferton in Northumberland, as well as milk from two other local organic dairy farms.

No chemical fertilisers, insecticides or drugs are used on the farms and the dairy delivers organic milk to more than 4,000 homes as well as supplying Morrisons, Waitrose, hotels, restaurants, schools and leisure centres.