When he cycled to work on Thursday, Martin Ford was an anonymous councillor with a worthy but uninspiring CV as a college lecturer and an interest in plant ecology, recycling and the environment. But yesterday he found himself in the global media spotlight after being credited with dealing a potentially fatal blow to a proposed £1 billion golf resort in Britain by one of the world’s richest men.

The Liberal Democrat, who cycles 10 miles to work each day, was unapologetic about using his casting vote as head of a planning committee to reject a plan by Donald Trump to build “the world’s finest golf course” on sand dunes north of Aberdeen.

As a political storm blew up around him, Aberdeenshire Council said that it was calling an emergency meeting of all its councillors to discuss options for overturning the decision after hundreds of telephone calls and e-mails from outraged locals. In a telephone interview with The Times, Mr Trump even claimed that people in Aberdeenshire were so dismayed that there were “riots” in the streets.

However, even as the American billionaire repeated his threats to walk away from the project, Mr Ford, 48, insisted that he had done the right thing. He said: “I’ve had e-mails from as far away as New Zealand saying well done for standing up for the environment.

“A majority were supportive although there was a significant minority against, with some saying some unpleasant and childish things like ‘I hope you can’t sleep at night’.

Well, I can tell you I had no problem sleeping last night.”

He added: “I’ve no qualms about the decision we took. It was absolutely the right thing to do. Whatever our decision, it’s clear that a lot of people were going to be very unhappy.”

Even before his intervention on Thursday, the contrast between Mr Ford and Mr Trump could not have been greater. Mr Ford, who earns £16,000 a year in his role as a councillor, has not set foot in an aircraft for 15 years – an idea unthinkable to a man who has his own Boeing 727 emblazoned with the word “TRUMP” along the side in gold letters. He does not own a mobile phone and buys his electricity through a “green tarriff” promoted jointly by Scottish and Southern Energy and the RSPB. He does not own a car, though his wife does.

Since his election to the council in 1999, he has been outspoken on environmental issues, opposing the expansion of Aberdeen airport and the construction of a local bypass, and promoting recycling initiatives.

Mr Ford, who has no children, said: “It’s not a role I expected or courted. It was an accident that it turned out to be [decided on] my casting vote. I didn’t make my decision lightly or on a whim.”

After more than 2½ hours of debate on Thursday, Aberdeenshire Council’s infrastructure services committee – its strategic planning group – threw out Mr Trump’s plans for a “golfopolis” on 1,400 acres of coastline at Balmedie, but only after a 7-7 deadlock was resolved by Mr Ford’s casting vote as chairman.

The decision to reject the plans was in stark contrast to the advice of the council’s own planning officials, and councillors from the area for which the site was proposed, who had already recommended it for approval.

Concerns centred on potential damage to the fragile sand dunes system – designated a site of special scientific interest – and the scale of Mr Trump’s proposed development, which included 500 private houses and nearly 1,000 holiday homes.

The resort plans also included two championship golf courses, a 450-bedroom five-star hotel, a golf academy and a sweeping main driveway to be called “Trump Boulevard”. Estimates suggested that the resort would generate more than £100 million a year for the local economy and create many hundreds of jobs.

Mr Trump, speaking from New York, told The Times that he believed he had a lot in common with Mr Ford.

“I’m as much as an environmentalist as he is,” he said. “I’ve never met him but I can tell you that if we sat down he would agree with me because what I am doing is stabilising the dunes and saving the wildlife.”

Mr Trump claimed that people in Aberdeenshire were so unhappy about the decision that there were riots. He said: “They’ve been rioting over there. Nobody can believe this.”

Although there was no sign of any riots by yesterday evening, police were called after one councillor who voted against the proposal was allegedly assaulted on her doorstep. Police confirmed that they were investigating the incident involving Debra Storr, 47, one of Mr Ford’s Lib Dem colleagues.

A spokesman for Aberdeenshire Council said that there had been an “overwhelming” public response, with many hundreds of people e-mailing and telephoning the council officers to complain at the decision.

Anne Robertson, the council leader, said that she was calling an emergency meeting of all councillors to discuss possible options for overturning the decision. She said that there had been “unprecedented public response and dismay expressed”.

The tycoon

Trump one of the world’s most instantly recognisable business figures.
Known as “The Donald” and famous for catchprases such as “You’re fired!” and comb-over hairstyle.
According to Forbes is worth $2.7 billion (£1.4 billion).
Sued a journalist for saying he was only a millionaire.
Hobbies: golf, talking about Donald Trump, making money.
Owns Boeing 727 with TRUMP on the side in gold letters

The environmentalist

Ford earns £16,000 a year as a councillor in Aberdeenshire.
Hobbies: botany, cycling and reading.
Does not own a car or mobile phone and buys his household electricity through a charity.
Has not been on an aircraft for 15 years.
His ambition is to boost recycling in Aberdeenshire, stop construction of proposed new bypass, improve public transport and increase awareness of climate change

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