Three years ago Donald Trump flew in to Scotland, claimed it to be his homeland and pledged to deliver “the greatest golf course in the world” on one of its most beautiful, windswept shorelines.

The audacious announcement was followed by months of bitter wrangling between the billionaire developer, residents, environmentalists and local and national government.

Yesterday, having deflected challenges from opponents ranging from RSPB Scotland to the Hollywood actress Tilda Swinton, Trump International Golf Links Scotland finally began work on the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire.

The organisation has been given permission by the local council to undertake preparatory work to secure the sand dunes and plant marram grass.

Yet even as Donald Trump Jr, his father’s emissory to Scotland, watched with relief the diggers roll on to the beach near Balmedie, it emerged that the progress may be short-lived.

Campaigners are embarking on a legal attempt to have the work halted by the weekend.

Martin Glegg, the spokesman for Tripping Up Trump, which was formed to oppose the use of compulsory purchase orders to evict residents from the site, said: “There could be an injunction put in place to stop work. We believe Donald Trump’s application has breached environmental law and planning procedures and we are very confident we can stop it.”

Mr Trump Jr said that he “wasn’t worried in the slightest” about the threat of legal action and believed that in 18 months the first ball could be hit on the championship course which would have replaced the sand dune upon which he stood.

He said: “We are incredibly thrilled, we are ecstatic to be here. To be able to start ahead of schedule and to get this under way will hopefully put our supporters’ minds at ease as well as quiet down some of the detractors. I can see the first round of golf taking place here within the next 18 months to two years.

“There’s no question that we are relieved. It was very important for us to get going this time so we don’t miss another year of being able to go forward. This project is really the pinnacle of all our golf properties and so it’s an incredible relief ... to be able to get going.”

The details of the “master plan” for the 14,000-acre site — featuring two courses, a hotel, almost 1,000 holiday homes, 500 houses and a clubhouse — are expected to be submitted next year. Aberdeenshire councillors this week approved the application for preparatory construction work.

George Sorial, who is working on behalf of Donald Trump on the Scottish project, said that the preliminary work would be handled “sensitively”.

He said: “It’s a little bit of a process, we don’t want to go out and start recklessly springing and slabbing out of respect for the dunes, and obviously only do work that is necessary.

“Over the next couple of weeks we’re really going to be preparing the site, getting ready for that process, mapping everything out in detail, and then we’ll actually start doing the construction side of it.”

The environmentally friendly message is likely to be met with scepticism by some.

Conservationists are angry that the Trump Organisation is to build on a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The five residents who live on the estate, and whom the Trump hopes to buy out, are not for moving. The opposition received a touch of Hollywood sparkle this summer when Ms Swinton, who lives in Nairn, backed Tripping Up Trump.

Scottish Wildlife Trust said yesterday that it was upset to see work going ahead. Jonny Hughes, director of conservation, said it was “terribly disappointing” that the local council had allowed it to proceed without certain environmental agreements in place.

“It seems that all existing protocols, from the integrity of SSSI designations to planning procedures, can be conveniently brushed aside for the benefit of Trump,” he said.

Yet despite such criticism Mr Trump Jr yesterday said that the process had been tough.

“This has been, according to our lawyers, the most scrutinised masterplan and zoning process in the history of development in Scotland,” he said. “We have complied with everything. We have more environmentalists on our team than anyone in the history of the world probably.”

His father’s vision has not changed. “For a golf course there are no dunes and there is no land as large and magnificent anywhere in the world,” Mr Trump Sr said — as those dunes began to give way to marram grass.

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