JOBS will be protected if a controversial wind turbine is allowed to go ahead at the Texas Instruments plant in Greenock, it is claimed.

Inverclyde planning officials have already refused permission for the structure at the microchip maker’s Earnhill Road plant.

The company appealed, and the issue will now be decided next week by councillors.

Texas say the 250-foot (77-metre) high wind turbine is needed to help cut energy costs.

But the council’s head of regeneration and planning, Stuart Jamieson, insists any potential economic benefits are outweighed by unfavourable impacts on landscape and the wider environment.

Texas say: “The site currently employs 350 full-time employees, approximately 90 per cent of whom are based locally in Inverclyde.

“Competing in a global market, the company’s operations based in the UK have the major disadvantage of some of the highest energy costs globally — for example, electricity costs in the US are currently less than half that in the UK.”