US tycoon Donald Trump is to face a public inquiry over his plans for a golf resort on the east coast of Scotland.

The billionaire is due to give evidence in Aberdeen on Tuesday in support of his bid, which could transform the coastline at Menie Estate, north of the city.

The plans - which were refused by Aberdeenshire councillors - include hundreds of holiday homes, a hotel, golf villas and private houses on the site near Balmedie.

Opinion is divided over his bid to lay part of an 18-hole course on a protected Site of Special Scientific Interest.

During a press conference after a visit to his mother's former home, Trump admitted he would probably have walked away from his planned £1 billion resort if she had not been from Scotland.

He said: "It is really easy to find a nice piece of land to do something nice on. But Scotland is special and I wanted to do something special for my mother."

Mr Trump - who was accompanied by his elder sister Maryanne Trump Barry, a New York judge - told reporters he felt Scottish, saying: "I don't want you to ask me to define what that means but I felt that strongly from my mother.

"I have always felt very good about Scotland and about this area of Scotland."

He revealed he had previously visited the house as a boy but had been too busy to return until now. He denied the visit had been made to publicise his plans.

Trump said: "I have not been back since, because I have been so busy having so much fun in New York and I'm just happy to be here.

"You do reach a certain point in life where you think about where you came from, where your parents are from, and in this case I've been waiting to do this for years."

Although unwilling to talk about the inquiry in detail, he said: "If with all the popularity it has - not just from the people but from politicians - it does not get accepted, it would be a very bad signal to the world in terms of investing in Scotland."

He suggested the cost of building the resort would have risen significantly while his application has been delayed but stressed that he had no need to rely on banks.

His sister, who has regularly visited Stornoway, said of Trump: "This is a man I revered. He is a nice guy actually, very funny, and my mom would have been very proud to see him here."

Trump's mother, Mary MacLeod Trump, a philanthropist who supported a number of charities near her New York home and elsewhere, died in August 2000 at the age of 88.

She was born Mary MacLeod on the Isle of Lewis in 1912 and met Fred C Trump on a visit to New York in the 1930s. They married in 1936 and Mr Trump, who died in 1999, went on to become one of New York's biggest developers.

The public local inquiry is expected to last three weeks at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre.

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