Greenpeace collected the letters at street stalls and festivals, to be given to Council Chief Executive Tim Howes. The message - act now to fight global warming or prepare for the worst.

Some local opposition groups have demanded that planning for the turbines be refused, but the thousands of letters ask the council to give the plan the go-ahead, pointing out that extreme weather linked to climate change killed 35,000 people in Europe last year and that wind farms are a vital part of the solution to the global warming crisis.

The Hinkley Point wind farm, comprising 12 turbines each generating 2.75 mega-watts, is planned for an area of land once earmarked for the construction of a new nuclear power plant. Electricity from the Hinkley turbines could power as many as 20,000 homes.

A period of public consultation ends on Friday, when the fate of the proposed wind farm will be passed to the Council Planning Committee, due to report at the end of the year. Views expressed by the public are likely to play a key part in the final decision.

Local Greenpeace campaigner Steve Krupa said: “We’ve been collecting these letters across the region and beyond for several weeks. You only need to look at what happened in Cornwall this month to realise how important it is to fight climate change. Most people know that if we don’t exploit wind energy we’ll end up with a new generation of nuclear power stations, with all the waste, threat to human health and expense that nuclear power has always entailed. The level of support out there for the Hinkley wind farm as part of the solution to climate change is massive.”

Email: Sarah Shoraka if you live locally and what to get involved in the campaign.