Donald Trump loses Scotland wind turbines appeal

Donald Trump has lost a battle to stop an offshore wind farm being built near his Scottish golf course.

The US presidential candidate had argued the wind farm would spoil the view from the Trump International Golf Links at Menie Estate in Balmedie and threatened to stop further development of his project if the wind farm went ahead.

But a panel of judges has now sided with Scottish government ministers, who in 2013 approved the 11-turbine scheme off the Aberdeenshire coast.

The European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) project predicts the venture will provide enough electricity to power 68,000 UK households over a year.

The businessman had twice unsuccessfully fought the scheme through the Scottish courts, arguing that ministers should not have given the green light because the farm would be seen by people at the resort.

A statement from The Trump Organisation said: "This is an extremely unfortunate verdict for the residents of Aberdeen and anyone who cares about Scotland's economic future.

"The EOWDC will completely destroy the bucolic Aberdeen Bay and cast a terrible shadow upon the future of tourism for the area.

"History will judge those involved unfavourably and the outcome demonstrates the foolish, small minded and parochial mentality which dominates the current Scottish government's dangerous experiment with wind energy."

Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said: "The proposed European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre is an important project for Aberdeen and north-east Scotland.

"It will give the industry the ability to test and demonstrate new technologies to enable costs to be further reduced."