Jeremy Paxman's brother has launched a battle against plans for nine 120ft wind turbines overlooking Dartmoor national park which he said would "stick out like a sore thumb".

James Paxman also criticised the Government's policy of subsidising wind energy, arguing that turbines were one of the least cost effective and reliable ways to generate electricity.

He said the proposed wind farm in Den Brook Valley, north Tawton, would ruin the landscape and affect tourism, a major part of the local economy.

Mr Paxman, 55, is the chief executive of the Dartmoor Preservation Association (DPA) and gave evidence at a public inquiry this week over whether the farm should be built.

In 2005, Renewable Energy Systems (RES) applied to build nine wind turbines in the Den Brook Valley.

This application was refused by the West Devon Borough Council and so the company appealed and won.

In response, local residents set up The Den Brook Judicial Review Group and took RES to the Court of Appeal, where the decision was reversed.

A public inquiry was called and began this week. It was adjourned until October where more evidence will be heard.

In his evidence at the inquiry, Mr Paxman, a former telecommunications manager, said the DPA was not against wind turbines, but was concerned that they could affect protected areas.

"There will be a significant affect on the character of the local countryside," he said. "We have an absolute gem here in Devon. It is real arcadia.

"We feel that there will be significant damage which will outweigh the benefits. The wind farm will be completely incongruous in terms of scale and structure.

"It will stick out like a sore thumb."

He said: "It is less than 4.5 kilometres from the edge of Dartmoor National Park, and so visible from the high moor and the northern edges of the National Park.

"The Den Brook turbines at 120 metres are only two metres short of the height of Salisbury Cathedral, the highest spire in the country.

"Nine turbines of this height would be conspicuous from a large number of viewpoints in the northern part of Dartmoor."

Mr Paxman, who lives in Lustleigh on the edge of Dartmoor national park, cited the example of Whinash wind farm in Cumbria.

Planning permission was rejected, he said, because of the "potential harm to that particular landscape, and the proximity to two national parks, outweighed the benefits of renewable energy".

Mr Paxman said he thought the Government's renewable energy subsidies were skewed in favour of wind turbines.

"It is my personal opinion that wind turbines are one of the least reliable and least cost-effective modes of electricity generation," he said.

"I believe that the subsidies have been diverting the lion's share of government and corporate funding away from the development of other renewable energy systems with far greater potential for more reliable and cost-effective power generation."

A decision is expected in the autumn.

A spokesman from the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: "The UK has the largest potential wind energy resource in Europe.

"Wind power is one of the most commercially competitive forms of renewable energy and the one that is technologically most able to deliver serious amounts of power. It makes good sense to take advantage of this."