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Durham-based Banks Developments won permission earlier this year for a 60-metre 'monitoring mast' on green belt land at Hook Moor.

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An exact date for the structure to go up has yet to be decided – but today a spokesman for Banks said it was "likely" to be in the next couple of weeks.

Data from the mast will be used by the firm to fine-tune its plans for a full-scale wind farm at Hook Moor. It would involve five propeller-style turbines, each reaching a height of 410 feet – about a third of the size of the Empire State Building.

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Banks says they would generate enough energy for more than 8,000 homes without the production of environmentally-damaging greenhouse gases.

Residents, though, argue that the site earmarked for the turbines is too close to their homes.

An application for planning permission for the main scheme is currently with Leeds City Council.

A decision on it is not expected for at least another two months.