A businessman is branching out as he reveals plans for a new green energy scheme for Weymouth and Portland.

The tree-like wind turbines could revolutionise renewable electricity generation in the area.

David McGowan, co-founder of Intuitive Renewables, has set up a crowdfunding scheme in a bid to raise £140,000 to bring three 'wind trees' to various locations around the borough.

The wind trees are just under 30 feet tall and 23 feet wide, sporting a total of 54 leaf-turbines that can capture up to 5.4 kilowatts of energy at a time and produce around 2,400 kWh annually.

The project, Mr McGowan says has been launched with the aim of providing renewable energy that creates an income which is then used to fund local community group, socially-minded projects, and not-for-profit organisations and events.

Mr Gowan, originally from Preston, added: "I want to give something back to the community I grew up in.

"Over recent times, there has been a lack of keeping pace with other towns and cities in the UK when it comes to renewable energy.

"This is often due to the ugly nature of the majority of wind turbines or solar installations which means that while we may be a pretty town, we are not keeping pace with being a 'green town'.

"We are therefore creating a campaign to purchase and install Urban Wind Trees, both to produce renewable energy and act as an aesthetic reminder of Weymouth and Portland as two of the great towns of the UK – demonstrating how we are able to mix a rich history with developing modern methods to help combat climate change.

"We are in discussions with several businesses and schools in the town that are interested in bringing these wind trees to the area.

Mr McGowan is also encouraging local individuals and businesses to 'sponsor a wind tree' where they are able to have their business or personal name attached to the superstructure of the tree.

The company will purchase the three models from New Wind, founded by former film and television writer Jérôme Michaud-Larivière in 2011, who developed the concept.

New Wind created its first prototype in 2013 after working through several possible iterations settling on a “seemingly chaotic” arrangement of leaf-turbines on each branch.

New Wind estimates this would meet half of the average UK's household’s annual energy needs; run a small, low-consumption office for 12 months; or charge an electric car for 10,000 miles each year, the equivalent of about 160 gallons of fuel.

Further announcements about the project will be made later this year and people are able to donate to the campaign by visiting chuffed.org/project/weymouth-wind-trees.