By Michael McCarthy Environment Editor Plans for Britain's biggest land-based wind farm were turned down by the Scottish government yesterday, in a landmark decision with wide implications for the future development of renewable energy in the UK.

By DAVID ROSS HIGHLAND CORRESPONDENT THE bitter debate over the giant wind farm proposed for Lewis has dominated the island's political agenda for four years and has sharply divided local opinion.

By DAVID ROSS HIGHLAND CORRESPONDENT MINISTERS are set to refuse permission to build what would have been Europe's largest wind farm on the island of Lewis.

A HUGE wind farm on Lewis would cause "irreversible damage" to one of the country's most important wetland sites, an environmental group said yesterday. The Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) is opposing plans for the 181- turbine development.

By Frank Urquhart THE row over controversial plans to build the world's biggest onshore wind farm on Lewis intensified yesterday as a leading wildlife group claimed that the job boost predictions made by the developers were "misleading and hugely optimistic".