Work starts on factory wind farm

Work gets under way on Monday to build a wind farm at a car factory in the north-east of England.

The first of six 51m-high turbines will be erected in the centre of the 750 acre Nissan plant in Washington.

The turbines will generate 7.5% of the factory's electricity needs once fully operational, according to the company.

Sunderland City Council granted planning permission earlier this year, concluding that the turbines would be "relatively unobtrusive".

The views of neighbouring local authorities, emergency services and countryside and environment agencies were all taken into account, the council said.

Nissan senior engineer Graham Bagley said: "All the preparatory work has been completed on schedule and, providing the weather conditions are favourable, we'll begin erecting the first turbine on Monday. This will be followed by the other five turbines over the coming weeks.

"As well as slashing carbon dioxide emissions and other atmospheric pollutants from power plants, the turbines will also deliver significant annual energy savings to the factory."

The wind farm, the first within the global Nissan group, is expected to be fully operational by the end of October.