A fresh row has broken out over the number of onshore wind turbines operating across Aberdeenshire.
Campaign group Communities Against Wind Turbines (Cawt) has disputed the most recent figures supplied by Renewables UK.
The green energy industry body said there are 164 operational wind turbines in the region, 66 under construction and 133 that have been given planning consent.
By contrast, Cawt said it believed 756 turbines had been approved, while 191 are still awaiting planning approval.
A further 450 devices had been refused planning permission, while 472 applications were withdrawn, Cawt said.
Nick Orpwood, a member of the Aberdeenshire-based group, said the figures highlighted by his group were taken directly from the local authority’s planning department.
Mr Orpwood suggested the statistics had been presented in a particular way by Renewables UK because the body was “trying not to concern the public too much”.
He added: “We have always been concerned about the effect of turbines on members of the public who live in close proximity.”
Peter Argyle, chairman of the local authority’s infrastructure services committee, also questioned the data provided by Renewables UK.
He said: “The most up-to-date figure I have been given by our planners is that around 1,000 turbines have been consented in Aberdeenshire.
“Clearly not all of these have been erected or even started on the ground but they have planning consent in place.
“I do not recognise the Aberdeenshire figures put out by Renewables UK.”
The Renewables UK figures showed there were 5,438 onshore turbines operational in the UK, of which 2,380 are in Scotland.
A spokesman said it believed the figures in its database were the most up-to-date available and added that a member of staff was specifically tasked to monitor them.
Trade body Scottish Renewables has argued that Scotland is the best place to build onshore developments because it is the “windiest” country in Europe.
It said turbine schemes provided financial benefit to remote and rural communities, offering thousands of pounds of investment in local projects.
The organisation also said that the renewables industry has created thousands of jobs across the north and north-east.
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