A DAIRY farmer's plans to install a second wind turbine on his farm near Wigglesworth has been approved - subject to there being no radio interference.

Applicant Simon Moon told Crav en councillors on Monday that a second 147ft high turbine was needed for the efficient running of his West Thornber farm.

He said dairy farmers were struggling to survive and the turbine would power his new cooling machinery, just to keep the business running.

He also refuted claims of noise created by the existing turbine and said it was negligible.

"We are trying to survive as a dairy farm and are looking at any way to improve our efficiency. Dairy farms are like petrol stations - there used to be two or more in an area."

In its objection to the application, Ribble Banks Parish Council repeated the concerns raised about the first turbine and added a second one would turn the area into a wind farm landscape, with the possibility of even more.

And spokesman for objectors, Roderic Mather, said the existing turbine could be heard clearly when the wind was in the right direction, and particularly at night, and that approving the second turbine contradicted the Craven draft local plan.

"If this is passed, every farmer in Craven will seek to apply for two or more wind turbines, and that will be an unhappy event for Craven homeowners," he said.

Councillors heard that the application had received 13 letters of objection, and objections from the Campaign to Protect Rural England and the Ramblers Association, but that it had also received 19 letters in support.

A noise complaint was being investigated by Environmental Health, but so far had proved inconclusive.

Cllr Robert Mason said dairy farming was an industry and not a 'pastoral past time.'

"Many people who move to the countryside expect it to be quiet, but it is not quiet. There is machinery, animals and traffic and I am sure that if Mr Moon was disturbed by the noise of his own turbine, he wouldn't want another one," he said.

Cllr Ken Hart moved the application be deferred for the results of the noise survey and for the comments of the Joint Radio Company, to assess any impact on radio signals, but failed to win the support of the majority of councillors.

Councillors resolved to approve the application, and go along with the officer's recommendation, but on the condition that no objections were received from the Joint Radio Company, which assesses the potential for turbines to cause interference to radio systems.

Councillors were told that an objection from the JRC would mean the application being refused.