A fresh row has broken out over the controversial Whinash wind farm after a leading wildlife group in Kendal accused the applicants of submitting a "misleading, inaccurate and inadequate" environmental document concerning the proposed site.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust said the "environmental statement" submitted to Cumbria County Council's planning committee contained a "glaring error" and that a number of habitats were "misidentified".

Councillors objected to the application regardless and, in line with the response of other consultees, have suggested the matter go direct to a public inquiry expected next October.

The county council has also said that it has not asked for any further information from the applicants to supplement that contained in the submitted document.

West Coast Energy Limited, which is managing the proposal for 27 turbines at Bretherdale Common, near Tebay, said the statement was never intended to represent an A to Z exploration of the proposed site, which would follow in due course.

David Harpley, conservation manager at Cumbria Wildlife Trust, said one of the most important habitats at the sites was blanket bog, which was a "globally rare" habitat.

Mr Harpley said: "The lack of detail in the environmental assessment means that no reliable conclusions can be drawn about the vegetation and habitat types at the site.

"The assessment fails to record many of the plant species present which gives the false impression that the site is much less biologically-diverse than it is.

"The inaccuracies in the survey have resulted in the environmental assessment identifying areas of the site as the wrong habitat. This glaring error makes you wonder if the ecologists who contributed to the environmental assessment had actually visited these areas."

Steve Molloy, of West Coast Energy Limited, said the trust had misunderstood the information required.

He said the firm would discuss the matter with the trust and expected "matters of conflict or misunderstanding" to be resolved before any final decision was made.

Mr Molloy said: "The environmental statement does not seek to include a full list of the plant species on the site to the extent assumed by the trust."

He said areas not identified now would come under the microscope later and that a "land management plan" would be compiled and involve wider consultation.

Mr Molloy said it was recognised that construction of some stone tracks on the site would lead to the loss of some of the existing blanket bog but on and off-site ecological improvements, including the creation of new blanket bog conditions, would "more than compensate for any loss".

Meanwhile this week, the Lake District National Park Authority's development control committee was told by businesses that the wind farm would have a "terrible impact" on tourism and the local economy.

The LDNPA deferred a decision for a site visit to take place in January.