Wind turbine blown down in strong winds in Devon The wind turbine that collapsed in Bradworthy, north Devon. Photograph: Mike Southon/SWNS.com A wind turbine in north Devon has collapsed, leaving local residents concerned about safety. It is understood to be the first such reported incident in the UK, although blades have fallen from turbines in a small number of cases. The turbine was sited on farmland in the Bradworthy area and fell down in the early hours of Sunday morning. Margaret Coles, chairwoman of Bradworthy parish council, which opposed the erection of the turbine, told the Daily Telegraph that strong winds had hit the area. The bolts on the base could not withstand the wind as we are a very windy part of the country. Dulas [the energy company] have egg on their face," she said. There are concerns about safety. A spokeswoman for Dulas said: "We can reassure the local community that due to the isolated location of the turbine, no one was put at risk and we are currently working hard to establish the precise cause of the incident. Our technical team is one of the most experienced in the UK. They are working alongside the turbine manufacturer to conduct a full root-cause analysis investigation. Our initial assessment suggests the turbine did not catch fire, as has been reported. The turbine was relatively small, with a hub height of 24 metres and with a generating capacity of 0.05MW. Paul Thompson, head of policy at the Renewable Energy Association, said: "It is important not to over-react to this incident, given that there are over 3,500 turbines in the UK with a total capacity of over 5,500MW. One benefit of having that capacity distributed across several thousand small generators is that when one goes offline, it doesn't have a major impact on the grid. However, that is not to take away from the safety concerns this incident raises, which industry will be looking at very carefully. Sources contacted by the Guardian were unable to identify any previous example of a turbine collapsing, but in 2009 a 20-metre blade fell from a turbine in Lincolnshire. Andrew Pendleton, at Friends of the Earth, said it was essential to determine how the turbine had come to collapse. But in a way the incident shows the advantage of having a decentralised energy system: when any one part goes down, it has no effect on energy security, unlike when major power stations go down. In 2011, a jellyfish bloom caused both reactors at Torness nuclear power plant to close down, taking 1200MW of capacity off the national electricity grid. The owners of East Ash Farm, where the Bradworthy turbine was sited, were recently given planning permission by Torridge district council to erect a second turbine.