Proposed Firth of Forth wind farm may be a killer for birds

A HUGE wind farm in the Firth of Forth will kill tens of thousands of seabirds, conservation groups have claimed.

- By Douglas Dickie

RSPB Scotland says the Berwick Bank proposal, around 25 miles off the East Lothian coast, will cover an area four times the size of Edinburgh.

They warned the huge turbines - six time the height of the Scott Monument in Edinburgh will present a major danger to puffins, kittiwakes and gannets.

Bass Rock, off the coast of North Berwick, below, hosts the world's largest colony of northern gannets, and the Isle of May, near Fife, boasts one of the UK's largest puffin settlements and can host 200,000 birds from various species at any one time.

RSPB Scotland has joined forces with the Marine Conservation Society, National Trust for Scotland, Scottish Seabird Centre and Scottish Wildlife Trust to urge ministers to refuse Berwick Bank to "protect wildlife and progress less damaging offshore projects".