Ice shards rain down from turbine

Resident collected some of the smaller shards of ice that fell

A giant wind turbine near Peterborough has been switched off after its frozen blades threw off shards of ice - many crashing into nearby homes.

The Cornwall Light and Power 80m (262ft) turbine was put up in August, near an industrial estate and close to homes in King's Dyke, Whittlesey.

But it was switched off when big chunks of ice started crashing into gardens on Saturday morning.

Cornwall Light and Power said it was investigating the incident.

Local resident Peter Randall said: "They (supporters of the turbine plan) said this will never happen, then we get shelled with ice."

Turbine expert John Stoneman, of Cambridgeshire Environmental Wildlife Protection, expressed concern at the incident.

"The blades revolve at 200mph and those ice shards become projectiles. They would certainly kill someone if they hit someone," he said.

Cornwall Light and Power said the firm has started an investigation into the incident.

A spokesman said the turbine should have worked at temperatures as low as -20C and the company wants to find out what caused the ice to form and what went wrong.

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The turbine was put up in August near an an industrial estate and close to houses in Whittlesey