A WIND turbine which had been intended to cut a local school's energy bills may be removed.

Inverclyde Academy was hailed as the first school in the UK to have one of the 50-kilowatt wind turbines when the building opened to pupils in December 2008.

The turbine is meant to provide 15 to 25 per cent of the school's annual energy requirement.

But the turbine hasn't generated any power for more than a year.

It has been plagued by technical problems, including a faulty gearbox, and its manufacturer has gone bust.

Now Inverclyde Council says if the turbine cannot be repaired, it may have to be taken away.

Options - which include repairing the turbine, removing and replacing it, and removing it with no replacement - will be discussed by councillors at a meeting of the education and lifelong learning committee today.

A replacement turbine - which would be put out to tender to a private firm - would cost more than �200,000. Last month Lib Dem councillors Alan Blair and Ciano Rebecchi branded the turbine a 'local embarrassment'.

Mr Blair called for action to repair the turbine so that it did not become a 'forlorn local landmark'.