An energy company proposing a controversial wind farm has appealed to Government planners to intervene.

Ridgewind, which wants to build eight 328-foot turbines at Normanton, near Bottesford, claims Melton Borough Council has not reached a decision on their application within statutory time limits.

It means the decision on whether the wind farm can go ahead may now be made by a Government planning inspector and not the council.

The council claims alterations to the application by Ridgewind caused the delays.

And the chairman of the council's development committee says the council will now be faced with a bill for thousands of pounds to fight the appeal.

Coun Mark Barnes said: "This is going to cost council tax payers thousands. It's wrong that this is going to cost us a lot of money and that the application may not be decided locally.

"The delays have not been due to us but to Ridgewind. If it was up to us we would have discussed it months ago.

"We can't determine it now, so we can't permit it or refuse it. There will be a lot of angry people over this, and rightly so."

Local planning authorities have to decide on major applications with four months, but alterations to the application trigger extensions to the time limit to allow councils to re-consult interested parties.

A meeting of the council's development committee is due to be heard at Bottesford on August 27 after the council received 1,000 representations on the application, mostly from objectors. But this meeting may now only be able to decide the council's position on the plans.

Jamie Mawer, of Belvoir Locals Opposing Turbines (BLOT), said: "It's a case of whether local planning decisions can be leap-frogged or not.

"If it does go to appeal we will be contesting it. It is a misuse of planning procedure."

The council's head of regulatory services Jim Worley said: "Ridgewind amended the application to allow for bigger turbine blades. Any extension on the planning process was down to the amendments.

"They have appealed direct to the planning inspectorate and the appeal will be decided on its planning merits, not what they say the council did or didn't do."

He added: "The appeal, if it's granted, will be held locally but not decided locally.

"The development committee meeting on August 27 will still have to come up with a position. We are discussing the position with our lawyers."

Ridgewind project manager, Ben Moore, said: "The council has known about the application since December and even with the alterations to the application, it should have been decided by mid June.

"It is outside the period by which the application should have been determined."

A spokeswoman for the planning inspectorate said: "The application will be out of the council's hands."