Lancaster-based Wind Direct has submitted a planning application to Daventry District Council to install the two turbines and Mercedes-Benz HTP plans to use 92 per cent of the electricity generated, with the rest being exported to the National Grid.

David Le Sueur, chairman of the Stop Brixworth Wind Farm Group, which organised the protest on Saturday morning, said: "Our main objections are that there is no economic or power justification to build these turbines. There is no actual benefit to anybody living in Brixworth.

"Mercedes-Benz could leave in 10 years and we would be left with these things."

Lindsay Lamb, wife of former England and Northamptonshire cricketer Allan, said: "I am furious. They are totally raping the countryside. This is an area of natural beauty and I just think these wind turbines are so dangerous."

Many of the residents said they felt angry that they had not been properly consulted about the proposals before the planning application went to the district council.

Vanessa Saunders, a resident of Brixworth, said: "We have to live with Mercedes-Benz and we should be able to co-exist. What they are doing is upsetting and losing the goodwill of people. They have decided to do something with no thought for the local people. Would they put Lewis Hamilton in a car that would perform so badly? I don't think so."

Jill Philpott, a resident of Hanging Houghton, said: "Mercedes are riding roughshod over people's lives. The neighbourhood just feels so helpless. It is just so unfair."

Jennifer Sheehan, spokeswoman for Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines, said the company was holding an open day on Thursday, November 13, at Brixworth Village Hall, between 2.30pm and 7pm.

She said: "The residents will have the opportunity to come along and view the plans in more detail and they will get the chance to speak directly to people from Wind Direct and Mercedes-Benz."