A wind turbine is set to be built in a Suffolk village after permission was given to the innovative eco-friendly project.

Suffolk Coastal District Council has given its approval for Cookpole Energy Action (CEA) to install a 24.8m wind turbine at Rockstone Manor Farm in Cookley.

The not for profit group, made up of residents from Cookley and Walpole, near Halesworth, had put forward the proposal with the aim of investing profits from the sale of generated electricity into other eco-friendly projects within the parish.

CEA chairman Simon Weeks said that the group was delighted to be given the go-ahead.

He said: 'The project should create enough electricity to save 10 tonnes of carbon and generate around �5,000 profit a year.

'For villages the size of Cookley and Walpole that's a substantial sum.'

The parish council and residents had raised concerns about the plans, with 44 villagers in Cookley signing a petition against it.

Mr Weeks said: 'The site at Rockstone Manor Farm is in a shallow valley so the visual impact is not as great as it could be elsewhere. The community benefits will outweigh the visual impact, but there will be people who think the opposite. It boils down to the fact that you either like wind turbines or you don't.'

He added that the group would now be applying to Suffolk's Greenest County fund in the hope of securing a grant for 50pc of the total cost of the project.

If that can be achieved, then the group would be able to approach a number of energy companies that have charitable funds to help pay for the rest of the �50,000 turbine.