Alnwick District Council advocate Paul Tucker began his cross-examination of npower's independent consultant Jeffrey Stevenson, in which he questioned the accuracy of photo montages showing the proposed Middlemoor scheme.

Earlier in the day, Mr Stevenson had told the hearing that he didn't consider there to be any major impact to landmarks such as Bamburgh Castle, Holy Island and the Cheviot.

The montages, produced in the company's environmental survey, included images of what the turbines would look like, superimposed onto photographs of the South Charlton area, taken from different sites and distances.

But Mr Tucker asked Mr Stevenson: "Why did you not choose to produce any montage less than two kilometres of the site?"

Mr Stevenson replied: "Because we knew there would be significant effects within that range."

Questions were also raised about the size of the turbines proposed, which Mr Tucker said fell into the large category, at 125m from base to tip.

Because Middlemoor was deemed to be within the 'medium' range, he argued that the turbines should also be within the 80-110m height.

The cross-examination continues on Friday.

Report: Day 3 - Morning