PROTESTS against plans for a wind farm at East Stoke are gathering pace after the first application associated with the scheme was approved.

The proposal for six 125-metre turbines at Masters Pitt, Puddletown Road, is still in its earliest stages, but nearby residents are already beginning to make plans to campaign against it.

A Wind Farm Action Group has posted a banner saying "No to giant turbines here" on the approach to the hamlet and will shortly be forming a formal committee to take the fight forward.

A spokesman for the group said: "There are a large number of objectors and people have been saying: We've got to do something about this'."

The group has also taken on the mantle of Dorset Against Rural Turbines, or DART, an action group which formed in 2003 to fight proposals for two wind farms near Blandford Forum, and is receiving advice and support from those involved with that campaign.

Renewable energy company Infinergy Limited wants to build the county's first wind farm, generating up to 18 megawatts of electricity - enough to serve 10,000 households. It has begun early consultation, but has yet to submit a planning application.

However, its application for a meteorological mast to measure wind conditions at the site was approved by Purbeck District Council.

The 80m mast will be in place for two years to record wind speed and direction, and replaces a temporary mast, which was 30 metres shorter.