THE Navitus Bay wind farm will "desecrate" Dorset's coastline, MPs from the county said at an adjournment debate in Parliament on Monday.

The debate - called by South Dorset MP Richard Drax - came days after complaints were made that although the Planning Inspectorate has now made its recommendation on whether to permit or refuse the scheme to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Amber Rudd, she has until September 11 to make a decision on the turbines.

It has been confirmed by developers that the plans feature 121 turbines at 193 metres high, or 78 if a scaled-down version is chosen, situated 13 miles out to sea from Bournemouth and Poole and nine from Swanage.

Mr Drax told MPs sitting in at the debate that Dorset residents were "faced with the daunting prospect of a giant wind farm".

He said: "The wind farm will generate power for 700,000 homes. It will occupy 153 sq km, which is an area the size of Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch combined. "A second, smaller so-called mitigation option for 78 turbines was submitted very late—I want to underline that—in the process.

"Both proposals are hugely unpopular."

The MP said residents have complained on the basis that the wind farm would be "too big and too close", adding: "The development will desecrate one of the most beautiful parts of our country."

Poole MP Robert Syms told attendees of the debate that the "strength of opposition" in his constituency had been highlighted as he campaigned during the general election.

"This is a very real threat to yachting, birds, the community and the view," he said.

Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns - who last week called for greater transparency as the planning process moves to its final stage - said the development is "the biggest issue" confronting constituents in the county.

"It should not be thought that opposition to the proposal is confined to those who live on the coastline or adjacent to it," he said.

"I was struck by the opposition of people in the north of Bournemouth—in Kinson and Redhill—and by the opposition in Alderney and Branksome East in the Borough of Poole."

Mr Burns said there are those who will "naturally accuse us of being NIMBYs", adding: "The back yard of Dorset is a world heritage site.

"I plead with the Minister to implore her colleagues to reject this case on its merits. Were the project to go ahead, that would be the beginning of the next phase of the fight, because we are united in our determination that it shall not proceed."

Navitus Bay Development Ltd, a joint venture between EDF and Eneco, has said that it has every confidence in the proposals, which it claims will bring £1.62 billion into the area's economy.