A WIND turbine bought for £48,000 by Ceredigion council six years ago was listed on a popular internet auction site by contractors for just 99p.

Ceredigion council has ordered contractors to remove the Quietrevolution QR5 18m Vertical Axis Wind Turbine from sale on eBay.

Contractors were brought in to dismantle and sell the turbine after the council admitted it “does not work” and would be “too expensive to repair”.

The 60ft tall turbine was installed at the council’s offices on Boulevard St Breiuc in Aberystwyth when its new multi-million pound offices opened in 2009.

Since its erection, the turbine has under-performed, broken down several times - and the council have finally given up on it ever working.

The ebay listing, which started at just 99p and had no bids when it was removed, said the turbine was “being removed due to incorrect siting, sold as spares or repairs, all complete and whole.”

“It will be dismantled ready for collection from 27 February,” the advert added.

A Ceredigion council spokesperson said: “A contractor has been appointed to remove and dispose of the wind turbine at Canolfan Rheidol as it does not work and repair would be too expensive.

“It would appear that the wind turbine was placed for sale on an internet auction site whilst still in the Authority’s ownership.

“Once the authority was made aware of this the contractor was immediately asked to remove the item from the auction.”