TWO environmentally friendly wind farms have started to produce electricity.

The wind farms, at Tow Law and High Hedley Hope, were set in action on Friday, when the sixth turbine was finished.

They have taken six months to construct and annually should generate enough electricity to meet the needs of 3,000 homes, which is roughly equal to the total energy consumption of Tow Law.

National Wind Power's 233ft turbines have generally been well received in Tow Law.

Town Councillor Jenny Flynn said: "It is surprising the number of people who have been coming up to look at them.

"One or two aren't that keen, but the majority of people are enthusiastic.

"There have been a few problems with television reception, but we are not sure whether that is because a transmitter is down somewhere, or because of the high pressure.

"But National Wind Power have asked people to contact them if they do have trouble with the reception."

The farm will also offset about 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year that would otherwise have been released into the atmosphere by fossil fuel power stations.

Next spring, National Wind Power and Northern Electric, which owns the High Hedley Hope site, will hold a public open day at the wind farms to give local people the opportunity to tour the turbines and find out more about their operation.

John Ainslie, development manager at National Wind Power, said at a similar open day in Cumbria, 97 per cent of visitors supported wind generated power.

Mr Ainslie said: "There is no reason to suppose the response at Tow Law will be any different."