A village campaign is growing in County Durham against proposals for an opencast coal mine and two wind turbines.

The Eco Energy Group wants to extract 750,000 tons of coal over three-and-a-half years between Bowburn and the tiny community of Old Quarrington.

It also wants to erect two 78-metre-high wind turbines to power a hotel, leisure and office development.

The plans have been turned down and there will now be two public inquiries into the applications.

'Real intrusion'

Robert Pringle, a farmer at Old Quarrington for 20 years, said: "The wind turbines will be here for longer than I am.

"I would rather see the opencast mine than wind turbines.

"There has always been the rumour of opencast mining, and I know that in three to five years it will be gone.

"It is the wind turbines really, I think they will be the real intrusion."

'Dwarfing countryside'

And Julian Hapian-Smith, a consultant engineer who lives in Old Quarrington, said: "The wind turbine has to fit in with the environment.

"The turbines are enormous, and makes the nearby hillside look miniscule while dwarfing the surrounding countryside."

The applications have been turned down, the mine by Durham County Council and turbines by Durham City Council, and will now go to public enquiries.