THIS picture shows an artist's impression of one of three wind turbines that Sainsbury's hopes to install at its proposed new store in Westhoughton.

The supermarket giant plans to erect three of the 30 ft-high structures in the car park of the store.

The new store is to be built on the site of Westhoughton Cricket Club, in Cricketers' Way.

The cricket club, which was built in 1937, will be demolished to make way for the £7.5 million supermarket and the club will move to a new home on land at The Hoskers in Daisy Hill before work starts.

The "QR5" turbines are made by a company called Quiet Revolution Limited.

They are a new kind of turbine, designed to be quieter and cause less vibrations than a traditional model.

Each turbine, costing £25,000, provides 10 per cent of the energy for a 600 sq metre office building and is designed to save around 4,200kg of carbon dioxide emissions every year.

Cllr David Wilkinson, a Westhoughton South ward councillor, said: "I am pleased that Sainsbury's has incorporated so many green aspects to the site, including the three wind turbines. They are neat, clean and modern in design compared to the traditional wind turbines.

"I think they will become a feature of commercial and industrial areas. I'm pleased to see that Westhoughton is leading the way."

But Cllr David Chadwick, who also represents Westhoughton South, and campaigns for Save Westhoughton, Act Now, said he thought the three turbines were little more than a gimmick on the part of Sainsbury's.

He said: "I don't see how three wind turbines will make a significant impact on the energy consumption of a store that size."

Earlier this month, Sainsbury's announced that it was hoping to start work on the site in April of next year to enable it to be open in autumn, 2009.